Continued strong growth momentum, acceleration in new productions and strong catalogue sales growth.
The Xilam Group posted consolidated H1 2018 revenue of EUR 13,866 thousand, an increase of 50%. This increase represents an excellent performance, as it follows on the heels of growth of 54% in H1 2017.
Excellent H1 growth was driven by the two main businesses, New Productions and Catalogue. In New Productions, H1 deliveries generated record revenue of EUR 8,465 thousand, an 85% increase compared with H1 2017, and confirmed Xilam’s position as a major European animation company. Catalogue revenue was up 16% compared with H1 2017, thanks again to traditional TV channels and digital platforms, in both France and abroad.
Thanks to its increasing production capacity in recent years, Xilam delivered 37 half-hour programmes over the half year, and has thus completed production of all episodes of:
- the fifth season of Oggy & the Cockroaches, which has notably been pre-purchased by Gulli in France, and Cartoon Network and Netflix internationally; this season is already ranked among the top audience figures of the main broadcasters associated with the brand;
- Paprika, the Group’s first preschool show, which has been pre-purchased by France Télévisions, Disney Channel and Netflix; Initial launches in France, Italy and Australia are already very promising.
- The second season of Magic, pre-purchased by Gulli, Discovery and Amazon internationally, which will be launched at the end of the year.
- If I were an animal, a wildlife series designed especially for children, pre-purchased notably by France Télévisions and Netflix, and for which international pre-sales point to excellent longevity as a catalogue property.
H1 saw yet another historical performance for the catalogue, with sales up a further 16%.
YouTube income rocketed 73%, driven by almost 1.9 billion video views over the period, confirming Xilam’s position among the leading animated content providers on the largest global streaming platform.
This growth was mainly due to the success of Oggy & the Cockroaches and Zig & Sharko, with the number of video views for the latter now equalling that of Oggy & the Cockroaches.
The Group’s other content also contributed to sales growth in France, Italy and India, such as the two seasons of The Daltons.
Xilam thus confirms its growing ability to create, produce and distribute high-quality animated programmes and market them at an increasingly rapid rate on the world’s largest global broadcasting platforms, providing these programmes, which it fully owns, with an excellent long-term asset value.
