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* First-half earnings halve to 165 mln pounds
* Ad revenue in July down 23%, better than -42% in June
* Says some more advertisers coming back
* Shares fall as much as 4%
(Adds further CEO comments, shares, analyst reaction)
By Paul Sandle
LONDON, Aug 6 (Reuters) - ITV, Britain's biggest
free-to-air commercial broadcaster, said more advertisers were
starting to return after the COVID-19 pandemic hit its broadcast
and production revenue in its first half, causing earnings to
halve.
Chief Executive Carolyn McCall said it had been "one of the
most challenging times" in the history of the broadcaster.
"While our two main sources of revenue - production and
advertising - were down significantly in the first half of the
year and the outlook remains uncertain, today we are seeing an
upward trajectory with productions restarting and advertisers
returning," she said on Thursday.
The company said ad revenue for the second quarter fell 43%,
fueling a 17% decline in external revenue to 1.22 billion pounds
($1.61 billion) in the first six months of the year. Adjusted
earnings before interest tax and amortization halved to 165
million pounds.
Ad revenue in July was down 23%, not as bad as the 42% drop
in June and the 46% decline in May.
McCall said travel companies had returned to stimulate
demand for flights, and categories like DIY were back, in
addition to telecoms and tech which had advertised throughout.
But the outlook remained uncertain, ITV said, and it did not
give financial guidance for the year. The challenge would be
retaining the new brands that had come to ITV and bringing back
other advertisers to television as the outlook improved.
Shares in ITV, which have tumbled 60% since the start of the
year, fell as much as 4% and traded 2% lower at 59.7 pence by
0915 GMT, valuing the business at around 2.4 billion pounds.
McCall said the lockdown had boosted viewing across the
board, including news and daytime on broadcast and on-demand on
its Hub and BritBox services.
ITV said subscribers for BritBox, which will see satirical
show "Spitting Image" return this year, were ahead of target,
but it did not give figures. Analysts at Barclays said the
market would take that to mean numbers were weak.
ITV said it studios unit, which reported a 17% decline in
revenue to 630 million pounds, had 70% of the shows it had
paused back in production, including its popular soaps
"Coronation Street" and "Emmerdale".
($1 = 0.7590 pounds)
(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Edmund Blair and Keith
Weir)
