The £1.4 million (€1.77m) sale of Sumo TV’s Sky EPG slot will result in a £1.1m profit in the first half of 2008 for parent company Cellcast. The sale to Discovery Channel, which included the retention of a second slot further down the EPG, followed a review of the channel in December 2007. Cellcast estimates that Sumo now has a “carrying value” of £1.6m including its internet and mobile applications.
In a statement the Cellcast said it had performed surprisingly well given the decline in the participation TV market of more than 70%. The company says that following the 2006 Sky EPG reorganisation which saw participation TV channels moved out of the entertainment section, the UK operations will become profitable in 2008, before group overheads, following substantial cost cutting in the past year. UK revenues are currently running at £1.1m and it is anticipated 95% of revenues will come from the domestic market.
Announcing its final results for the year ending December 31, 2007, Cellcast reported a reduced operating loss of £2.2m on continuing operations, compared to a £3.5m loss in 2006.
