 |
 |
|
Profit before interest and tax
Profit before interest and tax was £55.2 million (2004:
£36.7 million), including the profit on the sale of Eve
magazine of £6.5 million and after profit on disposal of
Children’s books and closure costs of Multimedia publishing.
In 2003, profit was reported after losses on discontinued
activities, BBC World, of £9.6m. Adjusted for discontinued
activities, profit was £42.0 million.
Operating profit was £57.5 million (2004: £36.7 million). |
 |
|
|
Turnover
Turnover, including share of joint ventures, grew 7.4%
to £706 million.
Group turnover, excluding joint ventures, fell from
£570 million to £545 million, following the creation of
the joint venture 2|entertain. Excluding the DVD/video
business, Group turnover, on a like-for-like basis, rose 4.0%
from £488 million to £508 million. This included a full year’s
turnover of Origin, the specialist magazine subsidiary acquired
in February 2004. In 2003 turnover and Group turnover
included discontinued activities, BBC World, with sales
of £18.5 million. |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
BBC cash flow
BBC cash flow, the BBC’s measure of how much cash BBC
Worldwide returns to the BBC, rose 3% to deliver record
cash to the BBC of £145 million. Cash flow in 1997, the start
of the current BBC Charter, was £53 million. Cumulative cash
returned to the BBC over the period is £900 million. |
 |
|
|
Future performance
Following the Commercial Review, the BBC has concluded
that, in future, profit should be the primary measure of
performance for BBC Worldwide. BBC has set BBC
Worldwide the target of doubling profits over the two years
to March 2006. This is a stretching target, but plans are in
place to achieve it. |
|
|
|
