17th Nov 2015 07:57
LONDON (Alliance News) - Television and film production company Entertainment One Ltd on Tuesday said its pretax profit surged higher in the first half thanks to a sharp decline in financing costs, as the group said it remains confident on the second half and is on track to double the size of the business by 2020.
Entertainment One said its pretax profit in the first half to the end of September rose to GBP18.1 million, up from GBP2.4 million a year earlier, as its financing costs halved and as it good a boost to its profit from its joint ventures. The company said pretax profit was up 42% to GBP39.9 million on an adjusted basis.
Revenue rose to GBP337.1 million from GBP330.5 million and the group paid a 1.1 pence dividend, up from 1.0p.
Over the course of the half, the group struck a deal to buy a 70% controlling stake in Astley Baker Davies Ltd, the creators of children's cartoon Peppa Pig, the main revenue driver for Entertainment One. The group said Peppa Pig remains the top-rated show on children's channel Nick Jr in the US and its accompanying toy and apparel ranges have been outperforming expectations with all key retailers.
Entertainment One said the outlook for the remainder of the year remains positive, and its underlying earnings are in line with its expectations.
"The first half of the financial year has seen very strong growth in eOne's Television business and this has supported a robust set of results at the group level, despite lower activity in the period for the Film business," said Chief Executive Darren Throop.
"The group's profitability has improved significantly, with our broad portfolio of entertainment assets continuing to protect the bottom line against the cyclical nature of the market. The strong growth in the group's television activities provides greater balance to the group's portfolio whilst enhancing the group's mix of revenues towards higher margin activities," he added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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