REG - ITV PLC - ITV plc Full Year Results 2025
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RNS Number : 3965V ITV PLC 05 March 2026
ITV plc Full-Year results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025
Carolyn McCall, ITV Chief Executive, said:
"ITV delivered a good performance in 2025, ahead of current market
expectations and against a challenging market backdrop. With a strong
digital platform, we have successfully capitalised on growth opportunities,
delivered resilient profits and generated good levels of cash.
"Our results demonstrate the scale of our transformation as we continue to
successfully execute our More Than TV strategy. As part of the strategy, in
2022 we set intentionally ambitious targets and have been adapting as
necessary in a rapidly evolving media and entertainment market. These targets
are helping us transform ITV - creating a much more entrepreneurial, ambitious
culture. Our strategy is yielding clear results, generating strong outcomes
across both ITV Studios and M&E. And in doing so, we have achieved a key
strategic goal with two-thirds of our revenues now coming from ITV Studios and
our digital M&E business.
"ITV Studios continues to outperform the wider market, a testament to its
world-class talent, global scale, diversification, and unique IP library. At
the same time, ITVX is successfully driving profitable growth in digital
viewing and revenue. This growth is underpinned by the reach and strong cash
generation of our broadcast business. We have an exceptional content line-up
for 2026, and are the only commercial streamer and broadcaster in the UK with
rights to both the significantly expanded Men's Football World Cup, and every
England Men's rugby match.
"In line with ITV's dividend policy, the Board is proposing a 5.0p per share
full year ordinary dividend, bringing the total paid for this financial year
to around £190m.
"We have created two resilient and attractive businesses, and ITV today is a
demonstrably leaner, more agile and increasingly digital business, well
adapted to deliver future growth. As we head into 2026 and beyond, we are
focused on delivering continued strategic progress, driving profitable growth
and strong cash generation, underpinned by our unwavering value creation
strategy."
Highlights:
Full year 2025 - financial performance ahead of current market expectations
Group total external revenue was up 1% and Group total revenue was flat year
on year, with 5% growth in ITV Studios' total revenues and 10% growth in
digital revenues, offsetting the decline in linear advertising against a
strong 2024 comparative. Group adjusted EBITA(( 1 (#_ftn1) )) was down only
1% year-on-year, with tight cost management largely offsetting the decline in
TAR. Group adjusted EPS was down 11% to 8.5p.
ITV Studios reported a strong performance with 10% growth in external revenue,
reflecting strong demand from global streaming platforms. In addition, we
generated double-digit revenue growth in Zoo 55, as we maximised the value of
our high-value content library through digital distribution. ITV Studios'
adjusted EBITA was £297m (2024: £299m), with an adjusted EBITA margin of
13.9% (2024: 14.7%), which reflects the change in revenue mix year-on-year as
previously guided.
M&E delivered a solid performance in 2025, as ITVX continues to drive
strong viewing, up 16%, and digital advertising revenues, up 12%. Total
revenue was down 5%, as a result of a 5% decline in ITV TAR (vs guidance of
down 6%), against a strong advertising performance in 2024, driven by the
Men's Euros. M&E adjusted EBITA was down 6%, due to the decrease in TAR
offset by significant cost savings.
In total across the Group, we achieved £63m of permanent non-content cost
savings which funded investments and offset inflation, along with £15m of
temporary savings in M&E in response to the softer advertising demand in
Q4 2025, as previously guided. In total, ITV has now delivered £253m of
permanent cost savings since the start of 2019.
Following our announcement in November 2025, we remain in discussions with Sky
regarding a possible sale of the M&E business. There can be no certainty
as to whether a transaction will take place and an update will be made in due
course.
Outlook - Confident in delivering profitable revenue growth in ITV Studios and
ITVX, with continued cost management and strong cash generation, underpinned
by our leading linear broadcast business
ITV Studios is on track for another year of good growth in total revenue in
2026, ahead of the market, driven by external revenue. Full-year adjusted
EBITA margin is expected to be at the lower end of the 13% to 15% range,
reflecting the revenue mix in the year. Revenue, margin and profit will be
weighted to H2, due to the phasing of scripted deliveries and timing of
high-margin licensing deals.
We expect M&E to continue to generate strong, profitable digital
advertising revenue growth driven by the success of ITVX, which has already
recouped its entire investment, four years earlier than expected. We will
continue to expand our non-advertising digital revenues, building on our
progress to date.
Q1 TAR is forecast to be down around 2%, which is better than we expected. As
is normal, advertisers are holding back budgets in order to spend in Q2 and Q3
around the expanded Men's Football World Cup. We are showing 19 more matches
than in 2022, and with more matches at peak time. We are confident that the
football will deliver a strong advertising performance.
As part of the continuing cost-saving programme, we will deliver a further
£20m of additional permanent non-content cost savings in 2026 as we continue
to create a leaner business. We expect our total content spend to be around
£1.225bn in 2026, as we continue to optimise our content spend to best
reflect viewer dynamics.
2025 Group Financial Performance
Twelve months to 31 December 2025 2024 Change Change
£m £m £m %
2,130 2,038 92 5
ITV Studios total revenue(( 2 (#_ftn2) ))
Total advertising revenue 1,723 1,820 (97) (5)
M&E non-advertising revenue 268 282 (14) (5)
M&E total revenue 1,991 2,102 (111) (5)
Total group revenue 4,121 4,140 (19) -
Internal revenue(( 3 (#_ftn3) )) (610) (652) 42 6
Group external revenue 3,511 3,488 23 1
Total non-advertising revenue 2,398 2,320 78 3
ITV Studios adjusted EBITA 297 299 (2) (1)
M&E adjusted EBITA 234 250 (16) (6)
Adjusted EBITA 531 549 (18) (3)
Unrealised profit in stock adjustment 3 (7) 10 143
Group adjusted EBITA 534 542 (8) (1)
Group adjusted EBITA margin 15.2% 15.5% - (0.3)% points
Profit before tax (statutory) 338 521 (183) (35)
Profit before tax (adjusted) 448 472 (24) (5)
Adjusted EPS 8.5p 9.6p (1.1)p (11)
Statutory EPS 5.9p 10.4p (4.5)p (43)
Net debt as at 31 December (566) (431) (135) (31)
Reported net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage 1.0x 0.7x - -
ITV's full preliminary results:
ITV plc's preliminary results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025
have been submitted in full unedited text to the Financial Conduct Authority's
National Storage Mechanism and will be available shortly for inspection at:
https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism
(https://data.fca.org.uk/#/nsm/nationalstoragemechanism) .
A copy of the preliminary results can be read by accessing the link below.
Click on or paste the following link into your web browser to view the
associated PDF document.
http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3965V_1-2026-3-4.pdf
(http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3965V_1-2026-3-4.pdf)
A copy of the preliminary results will shortly be available on the ITV Plc
corporate website: www.itvplc.com/investors/results-centre
(http://www.itvplc.com/investors/results-centre) .
This announcement is made in accordance with Disclosure Guidance and
Transparency Rule 6.3.5(1A).
Virtual results presentation webcast and Q&A:
ITV's virtual results presentation and Q&A session will be held for
investors and analysts at 9.00 am today (GMT) via the following link:
https://www.investis-live.com/itv/69663a4207020e000f8113d9/bfpft
(https://www.investis-live.com/itv/69663a4207020e000f8113d9/bfpft)
You are now able to pre-register to join.
If you would like to ask a question, you will be able to do so via the
following Conference Call details:
Conference Call Dial-In:
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numbers.
Notes to Editors:
1. Unless otherwise stated, all financial figures refer to the 12 months
ended 31 December 2025, with the change compared to the same period in 2024.
2. Total advertising revenue (TAR), which includes ITV Family NAR,
digital advertising and sponsorship, was down 6% in Q4 and down 5% in FY,
which was better than previous guidance. TAR is expected to be down around 2%
in Q1 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, which is better than we
expected. Figures for ITV plc are based on ITV estimates and current
forecasts.
3. Key performance indicators
Twelve months to 31 December 2025 2024 Change
Group adjusted EPS 8.5p 9.6p (11)%
Cost savings £63m £60m 5%
Profit to cash conversion 65% 83% (18)% pts
ITV Studios total organic revenue growth 1% (5)% 6% pts
ITV Studios adjusted EBITA margin % 13.9% 14.7% (0.8)% pts
Total high-end scripted hours 325 hrs 296 hrs 10%
Number of formats sold in 3 or more countries 20 20 -
% of ITV Studios total revenue from streaming platforms 28% 25% 3% pts
Total M&E digital revenue (excluding Zoo55) £614m £556m 10%
Total streaming hours 2,304m 1,980m 16%
Monthly active users 16.5m 14.7m 12%
Share of top 1,000 commercial broadcast TV programmes 91% 92% (1)% pts
Share of commercial viewing (SOCV) 31.7% 32.2% (0.5)% pts
UK subscribers as at 31 December 0.9m 1.0m (10)%
● Our definition of total organic revenue excludes the
impact of any acquisitions made during the current or prior period and the
year-on-year movement in foreign exchange. In 2025, the unfavourable
translation impact of foreign exchange on total revenue was £15 million.
● Total digital revenue includes digital advertising revenue
and subscription revenue, as well as linear addressable revenue, digital
sponsorship and partnership revenue, ITV Win, commission from STV for ITV
selling their video-on-demand inventory, social media advertising revenue, and
any other revenues from digital business ventures which qualify under the
definition. Given the nature of digital revenue, it will evolve over time.
● Total streaming hours measure the total number of hours
viewers spent watching ITV across all streaming platforms at a device level.
This includes streaming hours for both ad-funded and subscription streaming.
Given the nature of the market and our strategy to grow digital revenues, we
will include viewing hours from platforms and services where we serve ITV
content, where we can reliably and robustly measure and de-duplicate such
hours. In 2025, streaming hours also include users accessing our IP-delivered
content, for which data is now available. The prior year figure has been
restated to reflect the inclusion of these hours; it was previously reported
as 1,686m.
● Total monthly active users (MAUs) measures the reach of
ITV's content digitally. Given the nature of the market and our strategy to
grow digital revenues, we will continue to evolve our measurement approach as
new data and methodologies become available, to include users from platforms
and services where we serve ITV content, where we can reliably and robustly
measure and de-duplicate such users. To date, total MAUs have captured the
average number of identifiable users who accessed our owned and operated ITVX
platforms and services each month throughout the period. In 2025, total MAUs
also include users accessing our linear channels on devices where we can
identify the user, for which data is now available. The prior year figure has
been restated to reflect this inclusion; it was previously reported as 14.3m.
● The share of top 1,000 commercial broadcast TV programmes
KPI includes TV viewing from transmission and seven days post-transmission on
catch up, as well as six weeks prior to the transmission window. It excludes
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