Shares in AIM listed Dq Entertainment (LON:DQE) lifted by 1.3% to 118p in early trading after the animation, gaming, live action entertainment production and distribution company on news of a new broadcast agreement. DQE has signed an exclusive deal with Thailand based Thai Public Broadcasting Service (TPBS) for the animated 3D TV series comprising 52 episodes entitled "The Jungle Book". The company has also released its figures for the full year to March 31, with pre-tax profits up 25% to US$6.46m and revenues up 14% to US$36.76m.
TPBS is a public broadcasting service in Thailand and is the country's first public TV station. It began broadcasting in 2008, and focuses mainly on children's programmes, news and documentaries during prime time hours. Under the terms of this agreement, TBPS has exclusive free television rights to broadcast the 52 episodes of The Jungle Book in both Thai and in English in Thailand for a period of three years.
DQE has successfully signed broadcasting, licensing and distribution agreements for The Jungle Book franchise into 160 countries worldwide with a number of additional strategic deals currently under negotiation and are expected to be signed soon. Earlier this month, the company signed exclusive broadcast agreements with The Education Broadcasting System (EBS), the Korea based broadcasting company and Canada based Tele-Quebec, for The Jungle Book.
Tapaas Chakravarti, the chairman and chief executive of DQE said: “It's fantastic to have Thai Public Broadcasting Service on board for our iconic property The Jungle Book. We believe Jungle Book will be hugely popular globally and especially in Thailand once the series starts broadcasting in early 2011. DQE has remained remarkably resilient over the last 12 months beating the recessionary conditions worldwide and continuing to outperform and maintain high growth. Our strong work ethic and reliance on a core value system of brutal honesty, humility, quality at any cost, keeping promises, ethics and integrity is entwined into the very fabric of our business. This has been the key differentiator for DQE as we strive to successfully grow both revenue and sales globally.”
