15th Feb 2011 07:00
Date: 15 February 2011On behalf of: Entertainment One Ltd. ("eOne", "the Company" or "the Group")Embargoed until: 0700hrs
Entertainment One Ltd.
Interim Management Statement
Entertainment One Ltd., the international entertainment group, presents its Interim Management Statement for the period since 1 October 2010.
Overview
The Group has had another strong quarter with revenue and underlying EBITDA in the period continuing to track well ahead of the prior year. For the nine months to 31 December reported revenue was up 22% compared to the comparative period (14% at constant currency) driven by the continued good progress in the Film and Television businesses.
The Group is trading well and expects to report results above current market consensus.
Film
Reported revenue in the Film business for the nine months to 31 December 2010 was 34% higher than the comparative period in the prior year (28% at constant currency).
Theatrically 93 films have been released in the current financial year (97 in the comparative period). Major titles in the quarter included RED, Golden Globe award winner Barney's Version and the latest in the Sinterklaas series in Benelux. Two French language titles performed particularly well in Canada, hockey movie Lance et Compte and the award-winning Incendies, which has been nominated for an Academy Award for best foreign language film.
Home video also performed well driven by the release on DVD/Blu-ray in the UK and Canada of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, which was number one in both territories, and, following its box office success in 2009, family movie Nativity!.
Last weekend saw the successful opening of the eagerly anticipated animated film Gnomeo & Juliet, featuring the music of Elton John. The film grossed £2.9 million at box office in the UK and $1.7 million in Canada on its opening weekend. Other theatrical releases in the final quarter include Peter Mullan's critically acclaimed NEDS, Doug Liman's political drama Fair Game and The Lincoln Lawyer (starring Marisa Tomei, Matthew McConaughey and Ryan Phillippe).
Television
Television revenue for the nine months to 31 December 2010 also remained significantly ahead of the previous year, up 87% (77% at constant currency), through the continued growth in the number of production half hours delivered and the ongoing success of the Family licensing business.
Rookie Blue has continued to sell successfully internationally and the second series is due to commence delivery to broadcasters ABC (US) and Global (Canada) by the end of the financial year. Production of the second series of Call Me Fitz (starring Jason Priestley) is complete and a US broadcast deal has recently been concluded with DIRECTV's The 101 Network. AMC network's zombie series The Walking Dead, for which eOne distributes digital, home video and television rights internationally, is selling extremely well and a broadcast deal in the UK was signed recently with Channel 5. In addition, following the successful pilot, AMC has ordered nine further episodes of eOne's new television production Hell on Wheels which will go into production in spring 2011.
In Family, Peppa Pig licensing activity had a strong Christmas period and with retail sales in 2010 of over £200 million Peppa is now the number one pre-school licensed property in the UK. Peppa started broadcasting in the US on 5 February on Nick Jr. and in April 2011 the Peppa Pig World theme park will open at Paultons Park in Hampshire. Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom is also performing extremely well and has a strong pipeline of orders with major retailers in 2011.
Distribution
The Distribution business continued to perform robustly in the face of challenging markets. Reported revenue was 5% ahead of the previous year (4% lower at constant currency), outperforming the declining home video market in the 2010 calendar year.
Financing
Net debt at 31 December 2010 was below the level at 31 December 2009 and is expected to be in line with market consensus at 31 March 2011. Net assets were also higher at 31 December 2010 than the prior year.
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Enquiries:
Redleaf Communications |
Emma Kane Rebecca Sanders-Hewett
|
+44(0)207 566 6700 |
Entertainment One Ltd. | Giles Willits Scott MacFadyen | +44(0)207 907 3773 +1 416 903 6581
|
Singer Capital Markets Limited
| James Maxwell Nick Donovan
| +44(0)203 205 7500 |
Cenkos Securities plc | Stephen Keys Adrian Hargrave | +44(0)207 397 8926 |
Notes to Editors:
Entertainment One Ltd. (LSE:ETO) is a leading international entertainment company that specializes in the acquisition, production and distribution of film and television content. The company's comprehensive network extends around the globe including Canada, the U.S., the UK, Ireland, Benelux, France, Germany, Scandinavia, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. Through established Entertainment and Distribution divisions, the company provides extensive expertise in film distribution, television and music production, kids programming and merchandising and licensing. Its current rights library is exploited across all media formats and includes more than 20,000 film and television titles, 2,400 hours of television programming and 45,000 music tracks.
Further information is available at www.entertainmentonegroup.com or email Redleaf at [email protected]
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