THE STV operator, STV Group plc, is reported to have made a pre-tax loss of almost a million pounds following its settling of a legal dispute with ITV.
Yesterday, the group announced its financial results, which, among other things, showed a pre-tax profit – before ‘exceptional items’ – rise of 12 per cent to £14million.
However, reports today – including in The Herald, by deputy business editor, Greig Cameron – have drilled further into the numbers, to claim that a settlement agreed last year between STV and ITV is an ‘exceptional item’ that pushes the pre-tax figure into a loss.
Begins Greig: “STV has slipped to a £900,000 pre-tax loss because of a £13.5million bill to settle its legal dispute with ITV. Stripping out that one-off cost and a £1.4million restructuring settlement the Scottish media company actually saw its pre-tax profits before exceptional items rise 12 per cent to £14million. Revenues for 2011 fell from £111.7million to £102million partially due to the sale of the [cinema advertising] Pearl and Dean business.”
