£100m TV production group shows its worth with a shed-load of cash

Published on Monday 30 August 2010 21:09

Shed Media, the television production firm which recently agreed a £100 million takeover by Hollywood media giant Time Warner, has highlighted its worth to its owner-to-be after booking a double-digit hike in profits.

• The successful New Tricks for the BBC is among a host of Shed Media shows on TV. Pic: PA

The UK firm - founded by Scots-born Eileen Gallagher - yesterday shrugged off a "turbulent" broadcasting market to post a pre-tax profit of 6.2 million for the six months to 30 June, up 22 per cent on a year earlier. Interim turnover was up 27 per cent at 59m.

Shed said recently-announced BBC drama Young James - based on the early years of vet James Herriot - and the continued success of the US versions of Supernanny and ancestry show Who Do You Think You Are? left it well placed for the rest of the year.

It has already secured 317 hours of commissioned TV production - 93 per cent of its targeted production revenue for the year.

Chairman Heather Rabbatts told investors: "The UK broadcast market remains turbulent with significant changes occurring across all the major broadcasters. Against this backdrop, Shed has strengthened its position."

Chief executive Nick Southgate said: "We have seen an improved performance in our UK business, where all our major brands have been secured for further series. The US operation has continued to thrive with a number of new projects now in production."

During the first half of the year, the group delivered 153 hours of programming comprising 84 hours from the UK and 69 hours in the US.

British dramas New Tricks and Waterloo Road were a success for the firm in the period, as were factual shows the Choir and World's Strictest Parents.

Shed, which made Footballers' Wives for ITV until 2006, said it had secured other high-profile commissions such as Turn Back Time: The High Street, for the BBC, and We Built the Titanic, for Channel 4.

The group unveiled its takeover agreement with Time Warner last month. It had been in talks with the maker of Sex and the City since May.

The deal will lead to substantial payouts for the four most senior directors at Shed, who together own 35 per cent of the business. They will be paid 50 per cent in cash for their stakes, with the remainder invested in the new combined venture through shares and loans.

Hamilton-born Gallagher, who founded Shed Media in 1998, has a 7.5 per cent share of the business.She pocketed 6m when the company floated on the London Stock Exchange five years ago.

Gallagher, co-creator of prison drama Bad Girls, was managing director and then chief executive of Shed Media for ten years, before standing down at the end of 2008 to return to a creative role as chief executive of subsidiary Shed Productions.

She was previously managing director of London Weekend Television and deputy managing director of Granada Broadcasting, having began her media career as a press officer at Scottish Television.