Entertainment One says first five months 'on track' but box office down

Entertainment One, the television and film producer and distributor, said its operating performance since March was on track with its full year targets, despite revenues from the reshaped film business being lower than last year.

The FTSE 250 group said the underlying full year financial performance continued to be in "line with management expectations", while the content library's valuation has been independently judged to have increased to $1.7bn from $1.5bn.

As indicated in May, the ratio of net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation anticipated to be around 1.2 times by the end of March 2018.

Management said "significant momentum" has been gained in "positioning the organisation for growth" after the integration of film and television into a single combined studio this year, with new business efficiencies created and a number of internal support functions now centralised.

In the year to date, box office revenues from eOne's film distribution fell to $82m from $151m in the same period last year as 2017 has seen a "lower profile" and lower number of releases as part of the strategy of "acquiring and producing a reduced slate with fewer and larger films, where the company has a greater level of control with consistent financial risk".

Film releases included the well received Detroit from director Kathryn Bigelow and a weak reception for Valerian from Luc Besson, while the division anticipates releasing 76 theatrical titles in the first half of the financial year versus 88 last time.

There is a strong slate for the second half, including the Steven Spielberg-directed film The Post, Paddington 2, A Bad Moms Christmas and Molly's Game, Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut produced by The Mark Gordon Company which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

In the family division, Peppa Pig retail merchandise revenues continue to perform well in established territories, with growing momentum in its newer markets such as the US and China.

In the UK, sales were helped by the release of Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience, which generated box office revenues of £3.6m and A$2.2m in Australia and New Zealand.