Last bought these at 3.75p a few months ago ...... talk of bid interest and recent change of management

Currently 4.25/4.5p

Just announced that the MD has bought another 2 million shares @ 4.375p on the 7th Feb which takes his holding to 7.1 million or 1.4% ..... I do like it when management put their own money in


ains

A mm took out the other three guys on the bid - presumably to get a level playing field or because he had a sell order ..... recovering now


ains

back to where we started now - as buyers come in ..... over a millio traded

Interesting feature article in todays Telegraph about AC

Share price up a tad this morning



ains

COMPANIES & FINANCE UK & IRELAND: Chorion breathes life into Agatha
By Sophy Buckley
Financial Times; Apr 08, 2003


Armchair who-dunnit fans owe a debt of gratitude to Chorion after the intellectual rights company yesterday signed a deal with ITV for a minimum of 16 new Agatha Christie dramas.

Chorion, which also owns the rights to Noddy, has agreed a four-year deal to produce the period dramas, thought to be worth about 1.5m a year.

The move will reassure Ms Christie's more traditional fans, after Chorion and ITV last month revealed they were killing off the chintz and the bakelite telephones and injecting a dose of sex and glamour for a one-off contemporary adaptation of Sparkling Cyanide, written in 1945.

A person close to Chorion said yesterday the productions were designed to bring Agatha Christie to the widest possible audience.

Adrian Kearsey, at Evolution, the company's broker, called the latest deal an important step for Chorion. "It brings a fair degree of certainty of earnings for the company," he said.

The news comes a day ahead of full-year figures. Evolution has forecast pre-tax profits of 2.5m on turnover of 9.2m. Chorion is also expected to give an update on the disposal of the children's division, which it put up for sale last November for about 30m.

Results for the year ended 31 December 2002



Chorion to build children's division on back of Noddy success



Group turnover 9.3 million (2001: 9.8 million)
EBIT DA (and non-recurring items) 4.1 million (2001: 6.1 million)
Total net assets per ordinary share up from 2.3p in 2001 to 9.2p



Crime Brands

Turnover from crime brands up by 12% to 5.6 million
Christie re-branding has increased book sales by 25% worldwide since
launch
Over 1.2 million units of Agatha Christie UK partwork series sold in 2002
75% of crime brands publishing revenue now covered by minimum guarantee
contracts



Children's Brands

UK Noddy re-launch a huge success creating a 'must have' children's brand
Make Way for Noddy on Five wins 20% audience share amongst 4-9 year-olds
Noddy tops pre-school Christmas video charts in UK
Chorion to retain and develop children's division





William Astor, non-executive Chairman of Chorion, said:



'Chorion has transformed Noddy into a 'must have' brand, demonstrating our
ability to enhance the value of classic children's properties. We have
therefore decided to keep and develop our children's division - building a
dynamic media brand business with considerable growth potential'.



Nicholas James, Managing Director of Chorion, said:



'These results reflect the tough market conditions experienced by companies
across the media sector. However, our Christie publishing programme has been
hugely successful - with dramatically increased book sales and popular new
publishing formats launched. In addition, we have taken steps both to guarantee
future revenues and open up growth opportunities in the year ahead. We enter
2003 with greater earnings visibility than ever before and with clear objectives
that will enhance profitability going forward.'

LONDON (AFX) - Chorion PLC said it remains excited by its children's business and is confident of being able to drive growth from it in the next few years, as it announced a sharp drop in pretax profit for the year to Dec 31 2002, largely due to its demerger from Urbium Bars.
Chorion said it is entering 2003 "with greater earnings visibility than ever before", and has decided to retain and develop the children's division on the back of its success from the relaunch of Noddy.

Following the completion of the strategic review, Chorion said that Waheed Alli is to take over as chairman and William Astor will take on his role as deputy chairman, while Nicholas James will be chief executive.

"Chorion has transformed Noddy into a 'must have' brand, demonstrating our ability to enhance the value of classic children's properties. We have therefore decided to keep and develop our children's division - building a dynamic media brand business with considerable growth potential," said William Astor, currently non-executive chairman.

etain.lavelle@afxnews.com

Hi ains

looks like a bit of flannel to me

not much point in increasing chrisite sales when they are giving 36% away in minority interests

I guess there are no real surprises that I can see and the market seems to be satisified but will have a closer look at the detail later tonight .....

the real point is that the compny has significantly overvalued its children's rights and has been unable to sell them - if they really were that valuable the company would have had no problem flogging them in this sort of market. valuations are down and 'good quality' rights are hard to come by. yet another u-turn by the management but heopfull this is still the legacy of tamblyn. worrying lack of news on the Christie TV front, which begs concerns that the company has also had problems there. not really much reason for buying in.

hmmmmmmmmm ...... can I suggest you read my first post of the day :-))

Chorion looks high enough Indy

The famous Five are not quite as celebrated as they once were, but Chorion hopes to change all that. Similarly, it doesn't want the Secret Seven to stay a secret much longer. The media rights group is hoping to realise the unexploited potential for spin-offs from these books.

It considered selling its rights to the treasure chest of characters and stories, but couldn't attract bids near the 30m it wanted. So it is back in the toy box for Noddy and the folk of the Faraway Tree, and shareholders are certainly much better served this way than through a cut-price sale. Although it took a long time to get commissioned, the Make Way for Noddy television programme on Five is now a huge success, winning a 20 per cent audience share among four- to nine-year olds.

Chorion's crime brands division, the home of Agatha Christie's back catalogue, is going great guns. Turnover there rose 12 per cent to 5.6m last year. There's no mystery here: since a rebranding in 1999, Christie book sales are up 25 per cent to 4 million a year.

Chorion awaits a lift from Noddy
By Rosie Murray-West (Filed: 09/04/2003) Telegraph


Chorion, which owns the rights to Enid Blyton's books and Agatha Christie's crime novels, said yesterday that Noddy was a "must-have" children's brand, despite a slump in full-year profits.

Nicholas James, managing director, said sales had fallen from 9.84m to 9.27m, while profit before tax plunged from 4.87m to 433,000.

He said: "These results reflect the tough market conditions experienced by companies across the media sector. We have taken steps both to guarantee future revenues and open up growth opportunities in the year ahead."

Mr James, who will become chief executive following a recent strategic review, said Aim-listed Chorion would now concentrate on developing its children's brands, rather than selling them, which had been a possibility.

The company said it had received offers for the Enid Blyton properties after appointing a media finance house to look at selling the business, but the offers received would not have delivered best value for shareholders.

It said the slump in profit was partly due to one-off costs associated with becoming a standalone plc, and the termination of a contract in China after a patent default. Chorion shares fell 0.2 to 3.75p.

scotsman

CHORION, the brand creation business which owns the rights to Noddy, said it remains excited by its childrens business and is confident of being able to drive growth from it in the coming years, as it announced a sharp drop in pre-tax profit for the year to 433,000 against 4.02 million previously.

It blamed the fall on a number of factors, including a rise in overheads associated with being a standalone plc and substantial one-off costs. Turnover for the year fell slightly to 9.3 million compared with 9.8 million.

Apparently Muffin the Mule is about to make a comeback and discusses the situation with Noddy and Co on page 2 of the Times T2 supplement today




ains

LOL!!!!

maybe he should tell the mm to stop selling 250k to his mate everyday

I agree on that ..... often wonder if they are printing the damn things

looks like the fall back to 3p is about to occur.........will it fall even lower?

The latest annual report has just dropped through the letterbox ...... will make an interesting read later - I guess. The shares seem to take on a life of their own and always multiply like rabbits on the down swing .....




ains

Tick up this morning with some big trades going throgh

Ticked up again this morning after early backwardisation - now 3.5/3.75p plus 7.41%