Financial News

LONDON (ShareCast) - Broadcaster (BCSR.OB - news) ITV (LSE: ITV.L - news) is set to end an 18-month decline in advertising revenue by reporting a 4% increase in December.

The firm said trading in the UK television advertising market continued to improve in the fourth quarter.

It predicts national advertising revenue (NAR) will be flat over the last three months of the year as it thinks a 3% drop in October and predicted 1% slip in November (Frankfurt: A0Z24E - news) will be followed by a 4% rise next month.

ITV hasn't reported a year-on-year increase in ad revenues since the European football championships provided a boost in June 2008.

Revenue for the full year is seen 12% lower, despite trading ahead of the market, after an 11% decline in the nine months ended 30 September to £1.3bn.

"Whilst our visibility is limited, the outlook for the fourth quarter has continued to improve and ITV is continuing to outperform the market," said chief operating officer, John Cresswell.

"With further cost savings and a strong schedule in 2010, including the World Cup, we are confident that ITV is well-positioned to benefit from any market recovery."

But there was no news on a replacement for outgoing chairman Michael Grade, with some big names having already ruled themselves out of the running.

The group also needs a new chief executive as acting chief Cresswell has said he wants a "fresh challenge".