Press Release
STV Group plc
AGM Trading Update - Quarter 1
26 April 2016
The following trading update will be provided to shareholders at the Company's Annual General Meeting to be held at 11am today.
The business has continued to perform well and has delivered a positive start to 2016.
Trading during Q1 was in line with expectations. In Q2, STV national revenues are expected to be flat whilst regional revenues are expected to be up 12%. Overall for the first half of FY2016, total airtime revenues are expected to be up 2%, with national airtime revenues expected to be down 1% and regional airtime revenues continuing to perform strongly up 23%.
Digital revenues continue to perform strongly, up 25% in Q1 and Q2 and this rate is expected to be maintained in the year ahead.
STV Productions today announces a re-commission for Sky for a second series (eight episodes) of documentary series Prison: First & Last 24 Hours.
The productions business has had a good start to 2016 with revenues secured for delivery in 2016 above the level achieved for the whole of 2015. The business continues to have a strong pipeline of development activity for 2016.
Finally, progress has been made on the 2015 valuation of the defined benefit pension schemes and it is expected that this process will conclude by the end of Q2.
Rob Woodward, Chief Executive Officer of STV Group plc, said: "We have made a positive start to 2016 with the launch of an enhanced digital news service within the STV Family of consumer services. We are particularly pleased with the strong growth in our digital and regional revenues. STV Productions has a strong pipeline for delivery and a number of re-commissions, including today's announcement of a re-commission for Sky, have been announced. We continue to deliver against our growth KPIs and continue to deliver value to shareholders."
Ends
Enquiries:
STV Group plc
Richard Holligan
Tel: 0141 300 3416
Charlotte Street Partners
Chris Sibbald
Tel: 0131 516 5310