Producer-broadcaster ITV has reported a 4% increase in revenues for the first nine months of the year (£1,515m up to Sept 30, 2011). However CEO Adam Crozier warned that slackening demand from advertisers will lead to a tougher end to the year.

Commenting, he said: “Despite difficult economic conditions our revenues are up… continued management emphasis on cash generation and cost reduction has delivered further improvements to our financial position and we are on track to be net cash positive at year end. This is a substantial improvement given that our net debt stood at £612m in 2010. (But) we remain cautious on the outlook for 2012 – quarterly revenue trends are likely to follow a different pattern to 2011 with tough comparatives continuing into the first quarter before easing from Q2 onwards, helped by Euro 2012.”

In terms of highlights, he said: “The new ITV Studios management team is delivering ahead of expectations, fuelled by our investment in the creative pipeline, with particularly strong growth in our international business. So far this year ITVS has had 89 new commissions of which 40 are international including Prime Suspect, sold to 30 countries, and Titanic, sold to 57 countries.” Other headlines included Online, “where long form video views are up by 62% in the first nine months of the year”.