William Turvill

Film studio and production company Pinewood Group today reported an 11 per cent growth in revenue, boosted by Brexit, Star Wars and James Bond.

The company’s share price was up by more than two per cent on Monday morning after it announced the results.

Its shares are already up by around 25 per cent since February, when it announced a strategic review to look at sale options.

The figures

In the year to 31 March, Pinewood reported revenue of £83.2m, up from £75m. Film revenues totalled £53m, a 21 per cent year-on-year increase.

Read more: Pinewood Studios’ share price jumps on sale consideration

Normalised profit after tax, meanwhile, was £10.1m, up from £6.7m.

And Pinewood reported a group operating profit of £13.6m, up from £5.8m.

Its final dividend for the year was 3.2p versus 2.8p in the year to March 2015.

The company’s net debt increased during the period, from £71.9m to £72.8m.

Pinewood’s share price increased by more than two per cent to 555p.

Why it’s interesting

In February, the company appointed investment bank Rothschild to carry out a strategic review of the company, which currently has a market capitalisation of around £300m. Its share price before that announcement was around 445p.

Read more: Production company behind BBC’s “steamy” Versailles plans UK expansion

During the year, Pinewood hosted seven of the top 25 grossing films of the year, including the latest James Bond film, Spectre, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Pinewood also told today how it benefits from the result of the EU referendum.

The results said: “In the context of our business, the decline in the sterling exchange rate is undoubtedly positive for our international customers. We will continue to monitor sentiment around the issue going forward.”

What the company said

Chief executive Ivan Dunleavy:

The company is very pleased to report today another set of strong results showing a 10.9 per cent increase in group revenue and a 31.1 per cent increase in normalised earnings per share… This financial year has started strongly with good visibility for the balance of 2016.