Eyeworks’ revenue hits €274m

Europe-based production giant Eyeworks has posted strong full-year financial results, with revenue up 9% year-on-year to €274 million (US377.9 million).

Warner Bros. is soon to acquire the privately-owned company for around €200 million and Eyeworks’ latest results will please those at the top of the Burbank-based studio.

Besides growing revenue 9%, earning before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation grew 4% to hit €31.5 million, with net profit up to a record €16.6 million. Eyeworks claimed the latter figure had been achieved “almost entirely organically”.

Internationally, diving format Celebrity Splash (pictured) has been the headline story for Eyeworks in recent times, but the firm said a number of other shows were also driving growth.

Eyworks pointed to Germany as a key performing territory, with growth of 33% year-on-year. It pointed to Belgian talk show Café Corsari and drama Homegrown as strong local performers, along with new Dutch shows such as The Kamaras Love You and Adam Looking for Eve.

In the Nordics, it singled out Eyeworks Denmark for introducing Eyeworks New Zealand format Hottest Homebaker as a daily series, and noted that in its South America and Southern Europe segment, Argentinian format CQC and shows in Brazil were doing well. Portuguese shows such as Who Wants to Marry My Mom and A Prince for Corina were also singled out.

Eyeworks said it was “optimistic looking forward to 2014 as it expects to strengthen its market position further”.

Eyeworks USA, which will not be part of the Warner Bros. acquisition, has secured a fourth season for Extreme Weight Loss (internationally known as Obese) for ABC and added Syfy’s Opposite Worlds and Spike’s Bar Rescue were standouts.

The results come after Eyeworks founder Reinout Oerlemans underwent bypass surgery last month after suffering a suspected heart attack. Local Dutch reports say he is now out of hospital and has returned home to continue his recuperation.