Peppa Pig keeps profit in the pink

The film content specialist Entertainment One increased its underlying profits by 39 per cent to £32.3m in the year to March as retail revenues from its Peppa Pig character passed £200m.

Sales overall climbed 12 per cent to £470m, helped also by the success of the third installment of the Twilight vampire film series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Entertainment One has the distribution rights to the film series in the UK and Canada, and a fourth film is due later this year.

Darren Throop, the chief executive, outlined plans for further acquisitions as he unveiled the results yesterday. The company bought the Australian film distributor Hopscotch for $21m earlier this year.

A licensed toy deal in the US based on Peppa Pig is also expected soon.