Rental move brightens Twilight for distributor

FILM distributor Entertainment One is benefiting from a deal to rent out its movies via Amazon’s Lovefilm service.

The Aim-quoted firm, which launched a strategic review earlier this month that could result in it being put up for sale, expects a further boost in November from the release of the fourth film in Stephenie Meyer’s vampire series, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1.

In a pre-close update yesterday ahead of its interim results in November, the company said it had released 70 films during the first half of the year compared with 63 in the first six months of the previous period. It expects profits to beat expectations.

The firm’s TV arm highlighted the success of its kids’ cartoon series Peppa Pig in America.

Other movies being distributed in the second half include Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy, The Three Musketeers and George Clooney’s Ides of March.

Analysts at Northland Capital Partners said: “In a sector notorious for its patchy track record, Entertainment One has been a stand-out performance.”