LONDON (Alliance News) - DQ Entertainment PLC Friday said both revenue and profit fell in the first half of the year, hit by foreign exchange losses and higher finance expenses, after last year's results were buoyed by a foreign exchange gain.
The company also warned it will now miss its full-year expectations.
"The market generally remains buoyant. However, the delay in the commencement of productions will mean we are unlikely to meet market expectations for the year to 31 March 2015," the company said in its statement.
The animation, gaming, live action, and entertainment production and distribution company reported a pretax profit of just INR4 million for the six months to September 30, down from INR296 million a year earlier, as revenue declined to INR733 million, from INR870 million the prior year.
During the period it booked a INR73 million foreign exchange loss, compared with a INR291 million gain last year. Financial expenses also inched up by a further INR26 million, while financial income during the period was lower.
The company's animation production revenue fell to INR500 million, down from INR692 million last year, while distribution revenue increased to INR233 million, up from INR178 million a year earlier.
"We have commissioned new productions only in July and early August, and the revenues from these projects are expected to come in from this quarter onwards," it added.
The company said its working capital remains under pressure as the receivables collection has continued to be slow, although it said that it has now got "definitive commitments" from the key parties for payments and its expects a significant reduction in the debtors by March 2015.
DQ also said discussions with an investor for financing the development and production of its properties are advanced. It said it is in the process of completing the documentation for this investment.
DQ Entertainment shares were untraded Friday morning. They were last quoted at 9.50 pence.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; rowenaharrisdoughty@alliancenews.com; @rharrisdoughty
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