ITV (LON:ITV) profits fell sharply a year ago, after the British broadcaster suffered from a fall in TV advertising.
Revenue is up 2 per cent to £3.1 billion in 2017.
The group, which owns UTV, reported underlying pre-tax profits of £800 million for a year ago, down from £847m in 2016, after advertising sales fell 5% to £1.6 billion, affected by the "uncertain economic environment".
McCall, who joined ITV from Easyjet in January, said its 2017 performance was "strong" in a "challenging environment".
The group said: "ITV took action early to reduce overhead costs but the uncertainty has undoubtedly had an impact on the demand for television advertising and therefore as expected ITV's financial performance".
ITV's core broadcasting and online unit was down 3% to £2.08 billion, a fall of £57 million.
"We have had a great start to 2018". This gives us a solid foundation to build on for the next phase of ITV's development.
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ITV's special dividend has been shelved due to the "strategic refresh" being pursued by McCall but Liberum notes the company is well below its targeted debt ratio and is still generating plenty of cash.
"We have had a great start to 2018", she said, adding: "On-screen we have grown our viewing share and volume and online we have continued to deliver double digit growth in viewing".
Nevertheless, McCall expects ad revenue to be up 1 per cent in the first quarter of 2018, benefiting from the popularity of the football in the second quarter.
She added that ITV Studios - which has produced such TV shows as Victoria and Come Dine with Me and Downton Abbey - is seeing increasing demand for its formats and dramas, particularly in the United States and the UK.
The broadcaster says it continues to explore and trial new ways, both free and pay, to distribute content to broadcasters and platform owners as well as directly to consumers.
George Salmon, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said despite the drop in profit, there is not much ITV's new chief exec should be doing differently.
"The group is already investing to expand its online division, and the growth of the Studios business has helped diversify away from the potentially volatile world of advertising".
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