BBCWW Channels contributes to £1bn sales

BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, has reported sales of £1.074bn (€1.3bn) for the 12 months to the end of March, up 7% year-on-year. Six of BBCWW’s seven operating divisions increased sales. Operating profits increased 36.5% to £145.2m, with double-digit profit growth in five divisions.

The unit’s international network of 41 TV channels saw sales rise by 16.4% to £262.6m, of which EMEA accounted for £173.4m, £52.5m came from the Americas and £36.7m came from Asia Pacific. Ad revenues from Africa were up 97.3% year-on-year and 61.6% in Poland. Profits were up 34.2% year-on-year to £39.2m.

Sales from digital media services were up 9% to £30m, reducing losses to £20.8m from £29m a year earlier. Traffic to BBCWW’s websites, including BBC.com, the international version of the BBC’s website, has risen to 66m unique users globally.

BBCWW said it delivered increased dividend payments to the BBC of £73.6m, compared with £68.4m a year earlier, which helped lift the overall cash return to the BBC to more than £150m for the second year running.