Wednesday 27 July 2016 8:15 am

ITV targets £25m of savings after Brexit vote

ITV is targeting £25m of cost savings next year as part of a “robust plan to allow us to meet the opportunities and challenges” resulting from the Brexit vote.

The broadcaster today reported total revenue in the first half of the year was up 11 per cent to £1.5bn.

Net advertising revenue was flat on the first six months of 2015, £838m, amid EU referendum uncertainty.

ITV shares, which are yet to recover from a sharp post-referendum drop, leapt more than eight per cent to 200p after the results were reported on Wednesday morning.

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Chief executive Adam Crozier said that advertising revenue in June was up 19 per cent year on year, ahead of expectations, as ITV hosted Euro 2016 football matches.

It is forecast to be up six per cent in July, down seven per cent in August “when it will be impacted by the Olympics on the BBC” and down five to 10 per cent in September after a record September 2015.

Crozier added: “In broad terms, ITV’s advertising performance is directionally as we would have expected. And it’s too early to say what impact, if any, the Brexit decision will have for the remainder of the year, post-September.”

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He said that “against a backdrop of wider economic uncertainty following the EU referendum we have put in place a robust plan to allow us to meet the opportunities and challenges ahead”.

He added: “As part of this we are targeting a £25m reduction in overheads for 2017.”

In a media conference call on Wednesday morning, Crozier declined to set out where these savings would come from. But he did say he “wouldn’t have thought that staff costs will be anything like the lion’s share” of the cuts.

Elsewhere, ITV also reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation (Ebita) of £438m, up from £400m.

The broadcaster also announced an interim dividend of 2.4p, up 26 per cent.