ITV profits triple

2nd Mar 2011 07:07

ITV has promised an interim dividend after cost cutting and an upturn in the advertising market allowed the terrestrial broadcaster to ramp up profits by almost 200% in 2010.Profit before tax and one-off items leapt to a bigger than expected £321m from £108m in 2009 on revenue up 10% to £2.06bn. Net debt fell to £188m from £612m a year earlier.Adam Crozier, who took over the running of the business last April, said the recovery in television advertising is "clearly very helpful" and flagged a further £15m of overhead and cost reductions for this year. "We're still in the first phase of our transformation and making good progress, with a real momentum for change being built up within ITV," he said.ITV Family advertising revenues are expected to rise 12% during the first quarter and 8-12% for April. Comparatives get tougher from there on in and Crozier remains "cautious" about the economy's impact of advertising.The firm intends to restore the payment of a dividend at the interim results in July.