14th Sep 2005 07:00
Bright Things plc14 September 2005 14 September 2005 Bright Things plc Trading update Bright Things, the developer of an educational games console, Bubble, andassociated software for the pre-school market, is pleased to announce a tradingupdate. Commenting on the trading update, Dominic Wheatley, CEO Bright Things said:"This is a very exciting stage in Bright Things' development. Bubble is nowavailable in shops across the country and we will soon be releasing new titles -including Noddy and Thomas and Friends. Whilst the pre-school market remainshighly competitive, we are encouraged by the early feedback from the softlaunch." ProductBubble was launched in the UK with a choice of Balamory or Teletubbies softwarein late August. Initial consumer demand has been encouraging and in line withexpectations. Early feedback from consumers and our distributor is so farpositive and encouraging for the key Christmas selling season ahead. As previously announced, the company entered into a distribution agreement withBandai UK. In the agreement Bandai guaranteed to purchase 100,000 units of thehardware and 200,000 units of the software within 12 months from launch. Thecompany has now received purchase orders in excess of these numbers forproduction through to November, and an indication that further orders may needfulfilment before Christmas. Margins remain tight on these early shipments whilst the engineering costreduction phase continues. This is expected to improve over the coming months asboth time and volumes help us lower the cost of goods. Manufacturing/SupplyThe factory is now fully operational and is on target to manufacture and shipour requirements for the Christmas season. To-date in excess of 20,000 Bubble bundles and 20,000 standalone software havebeen landed in the UK. Licence propertiesIn addition to the 15 properties already announced from BBC Worldwide, Chorion,Entertainment Rights and HIT Entertainment we are pleased to announce 5 recentacquisitions: Dora the Explorer from Nickelodeon; Babar, Franklin and The FairlyOdd Parents from Nelvana; and Koala Brothers from Spellbound. These newproperties strengthen our international catalogue. Marketing / PRThe main TV advertising campaign for Bubble will commence at the end ofSeptember. The TV advert can be seen on our website. www.worldofbubble.com Intellectual PropertyFollowing the acquisition of PushPlay Interactive, the company has focused onintegrating the Intellectual Property owned by the group. Continued effort isbeing applied to the Patent applications. Software developmentBalamory, Teletubbies and Tweenies are available now in the UK. Fimbles isentering manufacture. Noddy and Thomas and Friends are still being finalised andare expected to land in early November. An additional 4 software titles have entered development (Bob the Builder,Angelina Ballerina, Postman Pat and Pingu). These titles are expected to launchin spring 2006. In summaryThe Directors remain confident of the potential for this product in the UK andare encouraged by the early feedback from the soft launch of the product intothe UK marketplace. Of course a note of caution remains due to the highlycompetitive nature of the pre-school marketplace. We continue to review and assess the licensing and distribution strategy of theproduct outside of the UK and Eire territory. More product information is available at www.worldofbubble.com Ends For further information please contact: Bright Things PLC 0870 351 7770Dominic Wheatley, CEOAdy Moores, CFOMatthew Tims, Publishing DirectorGiles Croot / Mark Antelme, Brunswick 020 7404 5959 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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