Corpus Resources PLC Regulatory News (COR)

26 May 2005 13:35

Chorion PLC26 May 2005 26 May 2005 CHORION PLC "CHORION" OR THE "COMPANY" RESULT OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Chorion PLC (LSE: COR), the owner and manager of classic literary-based brandsand content, announces that, at the Annual General Meeting of the Company heldearlier today, all the resolutions proposed were duly passed. Speaking at the Annual General Meeting, Waheed Alli, Chairman of Chorion said: "2004 was a good year for Chorion. We were able to deliver on all the principalchallenges that we set ourselves for the year and, in the process, to record a35% increase in profits. Gross profits in our children's business grew by 51%,demonstrating the long-term value that we believe this part of our business candeliver. Gross profits for our crime business also demonstrated steady growth.Long term minimum guarantees and the output deal we have with ITV give us goodvisibility of income, and enhance the stability of this side of our business. Looking to the future, our plans for Mr. Men are well advanced and we expect thefirst broadcast of the new TV series to occur in the last quarter of 2006 withthe first financial impact from this initiative enhancing the 2007 accounts.Last week, we announced that we had bought out the merchandising agents for theMr Men properties. We have thus taken full control of the brand in order tomaximise the merchandising opportunities that the new TV series will bring. Today I am also very pleased to confirm that we are putting Famous Five intoproduction this year. The rights to make new television programmes featuringthe Famous Five reverted to Chorion last month, having been previously grantedto a UK television production company before Chorion acquired the Enid Blytonrights. We have lost no time in moving to further exploit these valuable rights.Excluding Noddy, the Famous Five are the best selling titles of Enid Blyton inthe UK, France and Germany. The new animated TV series will commencebroadcasting in Spring 2007. We believe this series will greatly enhance thevalue of the Famous Five brand and will give Chorion the opportunity tointroduce the brand into new territories such as the USA and Japan. We remain confident about our growth prospects, from both our existing brandsand our new initiatives. We believe the company has an exciting future." - ENDS - For further information please call: Tim Allan or Andrew Sholl 020 7404 5344 Portland, for Chorion andrew.sholl@portlandpr.co.uk About Chorion Chorion (LSE: COR) is a leading owner and manager of classic literary-basedbrands and content. Its foremost properties include Enid Blyton's Noddy andFamous Five, Roger Hargreaves' Mr. Men and Little Miss series, Agatha Christie'sHercule Poirot and Miss Marple, Georges Simenon's Inspector Maigret and RaymondChandler's Philip Marlowe. Visit www.chorion.co.uk. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange