Profits at Granada fell by 47.6% to £43m for the six months ending March 31 2002, compared with £82m for the same period last year. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation fell by 26.6% from £128m to £94m, and turnover was down by 8.6% from £780m to £713m.
The media company's figures include a charge of £99m relating to the closure of ITV Digital and ITV Sport. Granada, with fellow ITV Digital investor Carlton Communications, pulled the plug on ITV Digital at the beginning of May after ploughing £573m into the venture over the past five years. It has also closed the TV channels Wellbeing and Shop! and sold its stake in the Ask Jeeves website.
Charles Allen, executive chairman of Granada, said: "Although the outlook is still unclear, net advertising revenue for May will be up approximately 14% and we estimate that June and July will be up approximately 7% and 6% respectively."
However, he had fighting talk when it came to the issue of closing ITV Digital. He said: "We are now putting all our energies into driving our core broadcasting and content business. The ITV fightback starts now."
On the subject of a merger with fellow ITV company Carlton, Granada said that the creation of a single ITV company was a logical step in the development of the UK television sector. When Carlton's results came out on Tuesday, chief executive Gerry Murphy dismissed speculation that the companies were in merger talks again.
Both Carlton and Granada have said they are not making provision in their books for a £178.5m payout sought by the Football League over television rights.
Shares in Granada leapt by 4p when the market opened this morning, but fell back to 130.5p, 0.77% above yesterday's closing price.
If you have an opinion on this or any other issue raised on Brand Republic, join the debate in the .
.jpg)
.jpg)