8th Sep 2014 09:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - The Character Group PLC said Monday that it has seen encouraging UK sales growth in its full-year, buoyed by sales of its leading products, and that international sales of Peppa Pig in Europe and Australia and Doctor Who in the US have also boosted revenue.
The designers, developers and international distributors of toys, games and giftware said in a trading update that UK sales growth in the year to August 31, 2014 across several categories has been encouraging, with several of its leading products performing well, including sales of Peppa Pig, Minecraft, Shimmer and Sparkle, Teksta and Little Live Pets.
In parallel with this, said Character Group, the business has also seen increasing revenue growth derived from its international sales, notably with products such as Peppa Pig in Europe and Australia and Doctor Who in the USA during the period.
Encouraged by this growth the company said it anticipates that it will report a full-year performance in line with management forecasts and therefore expects to deliver results in line with market expectations.
"Character Group continues to benefit from a strong product range that is also well received by its retail partners; this coupled with the number of new innovative and exciting range launches will reinforce the Group's position as one of the UK's leading toy companies with a growing international sales base, providing the Group with the engine for further growth," said Executive Chairman Richard King.
Looking ahead, the company said that it remains focused on its growth strategy "to seek out and develop exciting products which meet domestic and international market demand," supported by its diverse product portfolio.
"Our products currently comprise, and additions to our portfolio will continue to be derived from, both our own developed in-house portfolio, including those produced 'under licence', and others sourced through exclusive distribution agreements," said The Character Group.
The company plans to announce its full-year results for the year to August 31, 2014, in the first week of December 2014.
In separate statement Monday the company said its subsidiary Character Options Ltd has been appointed as the global Master Toy Partner for the BBC's iconic brand Teletubbies. The agreement has been entered into with DHX Brands, the brands and consumer products arm of DHX Media Ltd.
A new sixty-episode series of Teletubbies has been commissioned from DHX Media by CBeebies and is being produced by UK production company, Darrall Macqueen Ltd. Character plans to launch its Teletubbies product ranges at retail in the UK in 2016, with other territories to follow.
No financial terms of the deal were disclosed.
Shares in The Character Group were Monday trading 4.02% higher at 220.00 pence per share.
By Alice Attwood; [email protected]; @AliceAtAlliance
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