ITV switches on merger benefits

BARELY one month after the completion of its mega-merger, ITV chief executive Charles Allen today claimed the group is 'already seeing the results coming through'.

Unveiling the group's financial performance for the past 15 months, Allen said: 'The pace of change has been incredible. We have put ITV in a stronger position and created a united and more efficient company.'

ITV was formed through the £5.5bn merger of Granada and Carlton Communications, finally completed last month after almost two years of negotiation and investigation by regulators.

But the two sides have already been working much more closely together and cutting costs, partly through the closure of studios and losses of hundreds of jobs.

Today's numbers allow ITV to shift its year-end from September to December and have been compiled on a pro forma basis, as though the merger had taken place a year ago.

For the past 12 months, combined sales were £2.08bn and headline profits £222m pretty much in line with City forecasts.

Looking forward, Allen said the advertising market outlook appeared to be more stable. For the first three months of 2004, he expects combined ITV1 and ITV2 advertising revenue to be about £4m higher than a year before.

The strength of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! helped ITV recapture market share in the first weeks of this year, lifting it from 32.7% to 33.8%.

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