Carlton post £156 million loss

Carlton Communications have blamed the downturn in the advertising market for the £156 million loss revealed in their final figures for 2002.
Although turnover rose by 2% between October and December, the report did not guarantee a continued recovery, leaving the outlook for shareholders bleak.
Carlton also said that, as with other broadcasters, they expected the advertising market "to be challenging in the months ahead".
A major concern is that the ITV network has lost a substantial number of viewers in the 16-34 age bracket, a group considered most desirable by advertisers.
This compounds the media giant's problems, as Carlton are currently renegotiating advertising contracts that account for up to 70% of their revenues.
The huge loss could be considered to be unrepresentative of the true state of the business, as the results include a £188 million loss from the ITV Digital fiasco.
Shareholders are unlikely to be appeased by this, however, as revenues for the 12 months to September 30 fell to £965m, against £1.04bn for the same period last year.
Perhaps more worryingly, Carlton's production business, the home of 'Crossroads' and 'The Vice', saw turnover fall by 25% to £75.5m.
Many industry speculators believe the poor results will weaken Carlton's position in the proposed ITV merger with Granada.
(GB)