Shares digital

ITV (ITV) – Finals PTP: £188m (288m) Divi: 1.8p (1.8p)

The honeymoon is well and truly over following Michael Grade’s much heralded appointment as chairman last year, with the company’s 2007 results recording a 5% drop in revenues to £2.1 billion. There was some good news, with advertising revenues expected to be up for the first quarter of 2008, but most analysts are still concerned about the future outlook of the ad market. The shares have plummeted from highs of around 120p last year to their current 67p level, which puts them on an expensive looking 2008 PE of 14.7. It is also hard to see where catalysts for a rise will come from, especially with the Competition Commission’s recommendation that BskyB (BSY) should be forced to sell some 10% of its ITV shares weighing on sentiment.

Shares says: Still plenty of work to be done.

by: Susanna Twidale