M&A activity contributes to strong 2024 financial performance at Scotland’s STV Group
Scotland’s STV Group has hailed a “strong performance in challenging markets” as it revealed its 2024 full-year financial results, with revenues up 12% to £188 million (US$243m).
Rufus Radcliffe
The Glasgow-based company group says that figure – a marked improvement on 2023’s £168m – was driven by acquisition-related growth in its STV Studios (STVS) operations and advertising income which was boosted by last summer’s UEFA European Football Championship.
Last January, STVS become a majority shareholder in Northern Irish scripted prodco Two Cities Television by increasing its stake in the business from 25% to 51%. The outfit’s first contribution to group results is revenue of £31.5m and adjusted operating profit of £2.7m driven by scripted projects Amadeus (Sky) and Blue Lights (BBC).
In July 2023, STVS acquired UK-based Greenbird Media and its network of 15 independent production companies for an initial cash consideration of £21.4m. In the second half of last year, STVS increased its stakes in two of those prodcos, Hello Halo and Rumpus, which contributed a combined £5.5m in revenue and £1.1m in adjusted operating profit to the group’s 2024 financials.
Overall, STVS revenue was up 26% to £84.1m and adjusted operating profit up 18% to £6.1m. Digital sales increased 8% to £21.8m, while total advertising revenue grew 5% before commission.
Group adjusted operating profit was up 3% to £20.6m, although the adjusted operating margin of 11% was down slightly on 2023’s figure of 11.9%.
STV Group reported that its pubcaster STV and streamer STV Player are “still the clear number one for commercial audiences in Scotland”, thanks to the success of drama series such as Blue Lights, Criminal Record and entertainment formats like The 1% Club.
STV police crime series Blue Lights
Monthly active users for STV Player stood at one million, with acquired content such as Brookside and Red Rock accounting for 36% of consumption. The company continues its overall cost saving strategy, with achieved efficiencies of £1.9m in 2024.
STV Group says that the financial results show that the company is now a more diversified business with an audience that is highly valued by advertisers – factors that stand it in good stead amidst a challenging outlook for the global TV industry.
Rufus Radcliffe, chief executive, said: “I’ve been with STV for four months and it’s clear that the foundations of the business are strong. STV is a much more balanced group following the scaling of our studios and digital businesses, with good growth potential.
“2024 was a good year for STV. We delivered a strong performance against a challenging economic backdrop, with results in line with expectations. We are controlling those elements we can, in line with our strategy, and are very much on track to ensure that STV is in the best possible shape when the market recovers.
“We’re seeing continued growth in our studios business, with 51 commissions won in 2024 for more customers than ever before. Across our 21 labels we have secured future revenue of £76m, with strong development pipelines across all genres.”
