ITV returns to the FTSE 100 amid summer rebound hopes
ITV is set to return to the FTSE 100 this month after its shares staged a major rebound since its lows at the height of the pandemic last year.
The broadcaster was kicked out of the top flight of the index in September after a major slump in advertising and the cancellation of summer hit Love Island drove down its shares.
But its stock has more than doubled in value since that date, taking its market capitalisation to £5.2bn and ushering it back into the big leagues at the next reshuffle later this month.
The promotion comes as ITV gears up for a bumper summer schedule, including the delayed Euro 2020 football tournament.
The public service broadcaster last month said it expected ad revenue to increase between 85 and 90 per cent this month thanks to the eagerly-awaited competition, as well as the return of Love Island.
Chief executive Carolyn McCall added that the company was “cautiously optimistic” about the year ahead.
ITV was also upbeat about its Studios business, which was hit by shutdowns in production last year. As of last month around 90 per cent of its programmes were back in production.
In addition to producing its own shows, ITV has set out its aim of producing more programmes to sell to platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime as the streaming wars rage on.
Joining ITV back in the FTSE 100 will be Royal Mail, which has cashed in on a boom in online shopping during lockdown.
The mail group’s shares have grown more than fourfold since the outbreak of Covid to hit a market value of just under £5.9bn.