Scottish broadcaster STV has reported a 14% increase in pre-tax profit to £17.3m for 2014, as revenues were boosted by a strengthening ad market, growth from new ventures in digital, and contributions from local TV stations launched in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Revenues at the broadcaster, which holds the two ITV franchises for Scotland, increased 7% year on year to £120.4m from £112.1m in 2013.
The STV chief executive, Rob Woodward, said: “There has been a continuing increase in the underlying advertising market, but the growth has also been driven by extended the reach of the STV brand through the extension of services.”
“You’ve seen very strong digital growth driven out of the combination of the STV Player and the local services we provide in Scotland.”
The group’s advertising-driven consumer division accounted for £107.1m of sales, with national advertising making up £77.8m, compared with £12.6m from regional advertising in Scotland.
Revenues included a contribution of £600,000 from STV Glasgow, one of the group’s two local TV stations which launched last year. STV Edinburgh launched last month.
Woodward said the two stations had a combined reach of 1 million out of a total available audience of 3 million.
Digital revenue grew 23% to £5.3m. The channel launched STV Live last summer and delivered 480,000 streams during last summer’s football World Cup.
In contrast to the consumer division, the group’s STV Productions division recorded broadly flat revenues of £13.3m during the period, missed a £16.8m target.
The group plans to pay an 8p per share dividend.
STV’s licence has been renewed until 2024.
Jane Anscombe, media and gaming analyst at Edison, said STV’s results reflected specific circumstances, such as the company’s dominance of the Scottish broadcast ad market, and wider factors affecting many British broadcasters such as the World Cup and and the shift away from print advertising to digital video.
She added: “It’s come predominantly at the expense of press and regional press. The shift to mobile. That plays in very strongly into the hands of the broadcasters who also have [online] services.”
