STV has signalled that the expected slowdown in national advertising revenue will be be slower than previously guided.

The Glasgow-based broadcaster is now forecasting that national advertising revenue will fall between one per cent and two per cent in the quarter to the end of May, having previously said it expects a decline of 5% for the period.

And the firm, which hosts its annual meeting in Glasgow this morning, declared that overall revenue - across national, regional and digital operations - will grow in line with forecasts for the quarter, driven by increasingly resilient market conditions.

Chief executive Simon Pitts said: “We have made a strong start to 2019, with TV and online viewing levels continuing their positive momentum from 2018 and total advertising revenue also growing, demonstrating STV's increasing resilience in the advertising market even in an uncertain economic climate.

 “Our STV Growth Fund goes from strength to strength, underpinning strong regional advertising sales and bringing new advertisers to television for the first time.

 “We are immensely proud of our new Scottish drama series - The Victim - which aired on BBC1 earlier this month to huge critical and popular acclaim and represents just the sort of landmark programming we want to do more of in future."