UPDATE 1-Television boosts movie distributor Eros' FY profit

Thu Jul 2, 2009 3:20am EDT
 
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* Pretax profit up 7 pct, turnover rises 39 pct

* Looking at shift to LSE main list and listing in India

* Shares rise 4 pct

July 2 (Reuters) - Indian movie distributor Eros International Plc (EROS.L) posted a rise in full-year profit as its television business revenue nearly doubled, driven by syndication deals with Indian satellite broadcasters and sales in dubbed markets.

The AIM-listed company -- which has a library of over 1,900 films -- is now looking at a shift to the London Stock Exchange's main list, and is also exploring plans for a listing in India.

For the full year ended March 31, pretax profit rose to $48.4 million, compared with $45.5 million in the year-ago period.

Group turnover grew 39 percent to $156.7 million.

The company's television syndication revenue rose 94 percent to $64 million, while digital and home entertainment revenue grew 67 percent to $46.2 million.

Theatrical revenue fell by 11 percent to $46.3 million.

Bollywood producers and Indian multiplexes recently reached a consensus on revenue-sharing for forthcoming films, ending a dispute which started in April.

Eros said its box office revenue was expected to benefit from certainty over the revenue-sharing terms -- which are valid for the next two years.

Shares of the company, which gets more than 60 percent of its turnover from India, were up 4 percent at 146.25 pence by 0710 GMT on Thursday on the London Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Purwa Naveen Raman in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)

 

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