5 March 2010 | Jake Kanter

ITV’s procurement team has smashed its £16 million savings target and been credited with helping the company return to profit.

The UK broadcaster’s purchasing department saved £23.5 million for the year ending 31 December 2009 after undergoing a significant transformation.

Under the guidance of group procurement director Angela Porter the function has adopted a category management buying strategy, gained greater control over spend and cut supplier numbers.

ITV’s preliminary results earlier this week showed the corporation made overall savings of £169 million – beating its £155 million target – helping it post pre-tax profits of £25 million. This followed losses of £2.7 billion for 2008.

Non-procurement savings were the result of 1,200 job cuts and stricter control of programme budgets.

“Faced with the worst television advertising downturn on record, we took decisive action to improve our operational performance, deliver substantial cost savings and strengthen our balance sheet,” said interim chief executive John Cresswell.

Porter, who took up the role permanently in spring 2009 following some time as interim purchasing chief, is expected to detail her plans for 2010 after the arrival of ITV’s new CEO, Adam Crozier, at the end of April. Aims are likely to include continued spend compliance and boosting sustainability.