Bringing home the bacon: Peppa Pig helps Entertainment One profits double

Peppa Pig’s move into the US has helped Entertainment One to announce that its half-yearly pre-tax profits more than doubled to £44m.

Shares in the group jumped 2 per cent in early trading as the TV and film rights company said the cartoon pig had racked up $1bn (£643m) of US sales.

Entertainment One owns half the underlying rights to the much-loved, pre-school character but controls the worldwide rights to the brand.

It is introducing Peppa to Latin America and the Far East. Some 600 licensing deals have now been struck globally for the character.

The company’s revenue fell 5 per cent during the year to the end of March, due to lower box-office takings across the industry. Fewer films were released during the year, which sent box-office revenues down by 34 per cent to $308m, and also affected film-distribution revenues.

Home-entertainment revenues also fell as movie lovers continued to switch to digital formats.