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

an article in the Independent reports: the shares rose 0.38p to 4.75p after Nick James, the managing director, bought 2 million shares at 4.4p each, taking his total holding to 7.1 million or 1.4 per cent of the company. Also helping Chorion higher was Evolution Beeson Gregory, which initiated coverage of the intellectual property company with a "buy" rating and an 8p price target.

hey ainsoph (small 'a') has noddy grown up yet?

we at advfn are still waiting
And you bought these at 5p Look in your postings on Advfn. Try not to fool the folks here as well. I am watching you

I suggest you learn how to read dreamer - I did originally buy at sub 5p but sold and rebought a short while later - I think your dreamer name was best suited as you never seem to buy stocks merely dream of doing so.


ains



Press Release

Parp-Parp!! Noddy SETS off on 10-month UK stage tour

London, February 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Following the successful launch of his new series on Channel Five and a best-selling video at Christmas, enduring children's favourite Noddy is taking his famous red and yellow taxi around the nation in a new family entertainment stage show Noddy and the Magical Day.

Launching on Friday, 14 February at the Epsom Playhouse, Surrey, Noddy and The Magical Day is scheduled for a mammoth 10-month tour that will take in 50 towns and cities across the UK. The one hour 40 minute show - which is expected to attract over a quarter of a million spectators during its 10-month run - is already a sell-out in Epsom where an extra performance has been added on.

"Demand for Noddy tickets has gone ballistic," said Phil Derrick, head of Children's Showtime Productions, the company producing the show. "Since his re-launch on Five and the success of his Christmas video, the interest in Noddy is higher than ever. We are even getting bookings for some of his December dates."

Children will delight in welcoming Toy Town favourites Big-Ears, Mr Plod, Tessie Bear, Mr Wobbly Man, Martha Monkey, Bumpy Dog and naughty goblins Sly and Gobbo - as well as a specially constructed red and yellow taxi that Noddy drives around on stage.

The show opens on Tessie Bear's birthday and Noddy has written a song for her. Mr Wobbly Man wants to give Tessie Bear a cake and Martha Monkey suggests some flowers. Those naughty goblins Sly and Gobbo suggest some jewellery - but watch out, it may be a trick!

Big-Ears also has a gift for Tessie Bear, a magic seed that will grow into a friendship tree with musical branches and leaves of gold. Noddy promises to look after the seed but is tricked out of it by Sly and Gobbo who want to grow the tree themselves, steal the gold leaves and become very rich.

Full of lively songs (taken from the new Five series Make Way for Noddy) and lots of interactive fun, Noddy and Magical Day is certain to delight young children from the ages of two to six.

Stephen Green, Director of Children's Brands at Chorion - the company that owns the rights to the Noddy character - said: "We know that children have an overwhelming desire to interact with Noddy. This production conveys the magic and fun of this classic character and leaves the audience with the feeling that they really have been to Toyland."

Note to Entertainment Editors: For a full list of venues, please click on to the following website link: http://www.noddy.com/stageshow.htm

Notes to Editors

1. Chorion PLC is a brand creation and management business with the rights to key properties such as Noddy, The Famous Five, Miss Marple, Poirot and Maigret.

2. The Universal video - Noddy and the New Taxi - was the best selling pre-school children's video over the Christmas period. Released on 28th October it sold 130,000 videos and DVDs compared to 127,000 for Fimbles: Get The Fimbling Feeling (released 28th October), 117,000 for Fimbles: Let's Find the Fimbles (28th October), 114,000 for Bob the Builder Live (7th October) and 58,000 for the Tweenies: Everybody Panto (released 14th October) for the same period.

3. Enid Blyton published her first Noddy book, Noddy Goes to Toyland, in 1949. Noddy books have been translated into 40 languages and sold more than 200 million copies around the world.

4. High resolution photographs are available to the media free of charge at http://www.newscast.co.uk/ (+44 (0)207 7608 1000).

French trip for Noddy and friends
Nick Goodway, Evening Standard 17 February 2003

NODDY is about to take France by storm as owner Chorion has licensed a 100-episode, newly made Make Way for Noddy series to France 5, the terrestrial channel owned by France Television.


The deal follows the success of the new Noddy series on Britain's Five and the fact the video Noddy and the New Taxis sold 130,000 copies, beating the Tweenies and Bob the Builder last Christmas. The series will start on 3 March under the French title of Oui-oui, in reference to Noddy's characteristic nodding head.


France 5, which claims a 40% share of the market in programmes for four-to-10-year-olds, or 300,000 children, has allied with publisher Hachette and Universal Pictures Video (France) for a three-week promotional push this spring, with a treasure hunt to cross-promote the TV series, books and videos. Noddy sells a million books a year in France, oustripping sales in the UK.


For those who need to know (France 5 is available on Sky over here), Noddy's friends across the Channel are Potiron (Big Ears), Le Gendarme (Mr Plod), Mirou (Tessie-Bear) and Zim (Bumpy Dog) who, naturally, all live in Miniville (Toytown).




2003 Associated Newspapers Ltd.

London, March 02 /PRNewswire/ -- Agatha Christie is the nation's favourite spoken book author, outselling even JK Rowling and JRR Tolkein in overall audiobook sales, a newly published report has revealed.

Agatha Christie, who wrote her first book more than 80 years ago, sold 117,696 tapes in 2002, compared to 97,755 for JK Rowling, 78,770 for Roald Dahl and 75,841 for JRR Tolkein, her nearest rivals in the spoken word market.

Christie also dominates the mystery market, accounting for the top three sellers and 14 of the top 20 bestselling audiobooks.

The top-selling Christie audiobook of 2002 was the Hercule Poirot murder mystery After The Funeral, read by Hugh Fraser (who plays Hastings in the LWT Poirot series) and published by HarperCollins AudioBooks.

Mathew Prichard, grandson of Agatha Christie, and chairman of Agatha Christie Ltd (a Chorion company) said: "This is wonderful news. It's extraordinary to think that the market for audiobooks, which hardly existed when my grandmother was alive, is one in which she now dominates more than 25 years after her death."

The annual audiobook sales - covering fifty two weeks to December 28, 2002 - were compiled by Nielsen Bookscan and published in the current issue (Feb 28) of Audio Bookseller trade magazine.

Notes to Editors:

1. Agatha Christie, universally known as the Queen of Crime, wrote 80 novels and short story collections as well as 19 plays. Her books have been translated into more than 100 languages and are estimated to have sold two billion copies worldwide, making her the most widely published author in history, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.

2. Chorion PLC is a brand creation and management business with the rights to key properties such as Noddy, The Famous Five, Miss Marple, Poirot and Maigret.

Chorion PLC

250K mm buy starts them moving ..... up 3% on a wide spread


ains

a200k buy prompts a tick up on the bid ..... now up over 6% and 16th in the all share risers list



ains

A certain buy this one ains., didn`t you tell me you had several hundred thousand of these back at 10p, I do recall you made a killing, as ever

haec, hic, splat, hack, heheheheh

Madger

I think I bought at sub 4p major ..... but guess you already know that

I note UBS have reduced their holding by around 2 million shares



ains

Not looking good this AM with some biggisg mm sells going through at low prices - cannot see why




ains

I hope you got out in time ains, I never seem to be able to judge the market as you do,you`re in at the bottom and out at the top constantly, its almost
like a kind of sixth sense you have for trading.

any idea why the fall today.......

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 .....