ITV Credit Rating Now Classed As Junk
Oh how the mighty have fallen!
Today's news that the credit rating of ITV has been downgraded to junk status by credit ratings agency Standard and Poors marks the next step in what is a slow death for the former darling of the TV world. As the company stumbles from disaster to disaster the downgrading of the company's credit rating will cost the group a further £8 million a year in interest charges.
Impairment charges, falling advertising revenues and a large pension fund deficit do not bode well for the future of the group. Even the infamous Michael Grade has not been able to sprinkle any star dust on the group since he took on the role as executive Chairman. Pre-tax losses for the first half of 2008 have come in at over £1.5 billion due to a slump in advertising revenue and various impairment charges which the group was forced to take. This is officially the worst period in the history of the group and with no bidders willing to put the company out of its misery there is no immediate end in sight.
If, as forecast by the group, advertising revenues fall even further in the short term there is a real danger that the group could go out of business.
Share this..
Related stories
OFT looking towards review of Orange and T-Mobile merger
The merger of Orange and T-Mobile UK has prompted an admission from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that it believes a review of the merger should be instigated. A straight merger of the two operations in the UK would give the enlarged group about 37% of the UK mobile phone market with nearest rival Vodafone currently controlling around 25% of the market. As a consequence, there is a growing beli...
Read MoreIs it time to pay down your debts?
As consumer debt in the UK still remains at relatively high levels many people appear willing to pay down their debts in the short to medium term to the detriment of their lifestyle. While there are obvious attractions in this move, with a significant reduction in interest payments likely, there is a need to be sensible and take a longer term approach rather than a short-term knee-jerk reaction.
Lloyds bank looking to pull out of government asset protection scheme
Lloyds bank is today in talks with Treasury ministers and FSA regulators as the company looks to withdraw or reduce its proposed exposure to the government asset protection scheme. This is the scheme which would see Lloyds bank insure £260 billion of risky debt which is currently untradeable, therefore reducing any further downside in the short term. However, the company has been struggling to ra...
Read MoreBank of England maintain base rates at 0.5%
The Bank of England today confirmed what many in the markets had expected that UK base rate will remain at 0.5% for the foreseeable future. The bank also confirmed that, via the MPC, the quantitative easing programme will be maintained at £200 million although many expect these purse strings to be loosened in the short to medium term. There was little in the way of detail issued today, but analys...
Read MoreThe increasing cost of public service pensions to tax payers
While not something the UK government is ever likely to shout about, the revelation that the vast majority of taxpayers in UK will pay more towards the pension of public sector workers than their own (out of their council tax and the general taxation) is set to become a political battleground in the run-up to the next general election. As we have covered on the site on a number of occasions, Gordo...
Read More