ITV to pay special dividend as earnings rise

LONDON (Reuters) - ITV , Britain's largest free-to-air broadcaster, posted a 13 percent rise in 2012 earnings, helped by growth in non-advertising revenues, and said it would pay shareholders a 156 million pound special dividend.

The firm, home to soap opera "Coronation Street", period drama "Downton Abbey" and talent show "The X-factor", on Wednesday reported adjusted earnings for 2012 of 520 million pounds on total external revenues up 3 percent to 2.2 billion pounds.

ITV said adjusted earnings per share rose 16 percent to 9.2 pence, ahead of an analysts' consensus of 8.7 pence, according to Reuters data.

Having ended the year with net cash of 206 million pounds the firm is paying a full year dividend of 2.6 pence a share and a special dividend of 4.0 pence a share.

Non-advertising revenue rose 12 percent to 1.04 billion pounds with the firm's production division, ITV Studios, increasing revenue 16 percent to 712 million pounds.

Adam Crozier, chief executive since 2010, is reshaping ITV's business from a dependence on revenue from a struggling advertising market, seeking greater revenue streams from television production, online and pay businesses.

Though ITV's net advertising revenue (NAR) in 2012 was flat, the firm said it outperformed the wider television market.

It said it had made a positive start to 2013 with first quarter advertising expected to be up 5 percent and continued strong demand for ITV Studios content.

Shares in ITV have increased 50 percent over the last year, partly due to private equity bid speculation. They closed Tuesday at 120.2 pence, valuing the business at 4.7 billion pounds.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Louise Heavens and Hans-Juergen Peters)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/itv-pay-special-dividend-earnings-rise-071341475--finance.html

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