Entertainment gets a boost from Basil

By THIS IS MONEY
Updated:

 

BASIL Brush returns to BBC television screens this month after a 20-year absence, pushing back into the limelight yet another character owned by Entertainment Rights, which also boasts Barbie and Postman Pat.

The 13 half-hour sitcoms starring the 'boom boom' fox will be followed by the launch of a plethora of merchandise during 2003 with a second TV series already in production.

In the meantime the second feature-length Barbie video, Barbie as Rapunzel, is released at the end of this month and Postman Pat is being dusted down for a relaunch with new programmes.

The group will initially pump out 400,000 copies of Rapunzel compared with 260,000 for the first Barbie movie, Nutcracker, which went on to sell 1.8m copies.

Pre-tax losses were reduced from £851,000 to £296,000 on more-than-trebled revenues of £11.6m. Before tax and goodwill amortisation the group swung from losses of £388,000 to earnings of £696,000.

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