Peppa Pig helps double annual profits at Entertainment One, but film revenues fall

Character 'continues to engage and delight children in important markets such as the UK, the US and China,' firm says

The episode sees Daddy Pig explain to Peppa that spiders don't hurt you (Screenshot)

Peppa Pig drove a doubling of pre-tax profits at parent company Entertainment One as the popularity of the children’s series continued to spread.

Pre-tax profits rose to £77.6m in the year to the end of March, up from £35.9m last year.

“Peppa Pig continues to engage and delight children in important markets such as the UK, the US and China, where we have just started to implement our licensing programme,” the firm said.

The company also highlighted the success of its superhero cartoon PJ Masks.

Revenue was down marginally at £1.05bn, as lower performance in Entertainment One’s film division dragged on strong growth in family, brands and television.

Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at Markets.com, said: “Peppa Pig is the golden goose for Entertainment One but it doesn't always do to be so reliant on a single franchise, even one as popular as the cheeky little piglet.

“Last September, the company hinted at ways of becoming less dependent on the series, at the same time as it talked up the prospects of the series reaching large new audiences.

“Judging by today's full year results, Peppa remains unstoppable and the further good news is that there's lots more in the stable for the firm, with PJ Masks now also doing very well.”

The FTSE 250-listed group warned earlier this month that revenues would be lower than expected after US network ABC cancelled political drama Designated Survivor.

The show, which first aired in 2016, stars Kiefer Sutherland as a politician forced to take on the role of US president after an explosion leaves the original president and his entire cabinet dead.

While the series got off to a strong start, ratings and viewing figures plummeted in season two, prompting ABC to pull the plug.