ITN ANNOUNCES % INCREASE IN OPERATING PROFIT

ITN ANNOUNCES 33% INCREASE IN OPERATING PROFITNews and multimedia company ITN has today published its financial accounts for 2013, reporting operating profit before exceptional items of £5m on revenues of £105.8m in the fourth successive year of operating profit growth.

Financial headlines are:

Operating profit on ordinary activities before exceptional items increased by 33% to £5m - a £7.9m upwards swing since 2009

Operating profit margin grew from 3.4% to 4.7%, with every division of the business now profitable

Profit before tax increased by £5m to £6.6m (2012: £1.6m), due in part to exceptional items.

Pension deficit decreased to £80.4m from £88.8m, with positive net cash flow after payments under the agreed recovery plan

Operational highlights are:

With ITNs position restored as news supplier to all three commercial Public Service Broadcasters, another year of world-class, agenda-setting journalism resulted in 43 industry accolades across our outlets including five coveted RTS Awards and an International Emmy

From the Woolwich terrorist attack to the pursuit for truth over Plebgate, civil war in Syria to deadly Typhoon Haiyan, our teams across ITV News, Channel 4 News and Channel 5 News consistently shone with revelatory reporting and trusted analysis

Our fastest growing division ITN Productions saw its broadcast production slate up to 134 hours including seven major series and a client base now spanning all the major UK broadcasters - ITV, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky 1 with upcoming commissions announced with the BBC - as well as Discovery and the History Channel among others. The TV commercials business continued to expand with 23 advertising campaigns in 2013 including the multi award-winning TA Live ads from Helmand Province

Significant digital wins came with the News UK deal to produce in-game Premiership football clips and highlights; ground-breaking citizen journalism channel Truthloader was one of very few to be recommissioned by YouTube after racking up nearly half a million subscribers and 22 million hits; and the ITV News Livestream increased traffic six fold, establishing itself as a brand leader in online news provision just a year since launch

A landmark year for ITN Source with a multi-million pound licensing contract to produce a historical news and film collection for the Qatar Foundation - the largest ever archive deal in ITNs history

John Hardie, CEO of ITN, said: "2013 was a year of significant achievement, with improved financial performance right across ITN in the fourth consecutive year of sustained profit growth. It is particularly pleasing to see the growth in our strong core news business increasingly supported by enhanced profitability in our commercial divisions - a result of smart diversification within the wider business, evolving from our roots in TV news. We look ahead to the next stage of ITN's evolution with a renewed confidence and ambition."

Read the full Annual Report and Accounts

(ends)

For further information, please contact:

Sarah Vaughan-Brown 020 7430 4837/07920 580 529

Director of Corporate Communications, ITN

sarah.vaughan-brown@itn.co.uk

LINK:	http://corporate.itn.co.uk/press.php?parent_id=13&content_id=1403...
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