Pressure on carriage rates weighed on Jetix as the children’s channel announced its financial results for the six months to March 31, 2008. In a statement chief executive Paul Taylor referred to “a number of specific deals”, though the company has also been impacted by €3.8 million in adverse currency movements. In particular the renewal of the troubled CanalSat agreement hit revenues with Jetix now looking to reduce costs in the French market.
“Although we have been affected by the renegotiation of specific channel carriage deals and the decision not to continue producing A.T.O.M., most of our underlying businesses have continued to perform well,” said Taylor. “We have increased our advertising revenue, despite a worsening economic environment and continued stiff competition, we are investing in our websites in advance of a re-launch planned for summer 2008 and we have seen our in-house merchandising activities continue to grow.”
Revenue decreased by €16.5 million to €71.2 million, in line with management expectations. Profit fell by €5.7 million to €11.2, though reductions in marketing, selling and distribution costs limited the impact of reduced revenues.
Subscribers over the six-month period increased by 1.8 million to 52.3 million households. A new Bulgarian soundtrack doubled the number of distributors in the market, while 300,000 new homes were added in Poland. Growth also in Italy and the UK, though there was losses on a number of smaller Irish networks.
