Peppa Pig is set to bring home the bacon for Entertainment One, with the TV and film company behind the popular children's animated television show expecting a 50 per cent leap in full-year family division sales on the back of soaring growth in China.
The group said the snort-filled show continues to perform well in mature markets such as Britain and Australia, but “significant demand” for licensed products in China has been driving growth.
This has been supported by nationwide broadcast on the country’s CCTV network, through more than 45 billion views on Chinese video on-demand platforms and tie-ups with more than 50 licensing partners.
As a result, revenues at Entertainment One’s family division will be up 50 per cent on last year.
But the firm also flagged the challenging high-street landscape, pointing to the closure of Toys R Us in the US and UK.
“The group expects there to be some impact for its brands in the short term and is monitoring the situation closely with its partners,” it said, but added that the impact was “not anticipated to be significant”.
The Canada-based, UK-listed media group also said its film division was expected to see revenue decrease as a result of “both the declining volume of films released in the period, as well as the reduced contribution from related ancillary windows”. – PA
