In its first set of results as a public company, Netherlands-based Fox Kids Europe has announced half year revenues of $52.3 million for the six months to November 30 1999, an increase of 50 per cent on the previous year (pro-forma).

EBITDA was up 187 per cent from $8.5 million to $24.4 million for the period. Net operating losses fell from $9 million to $4.8 million.

Fox Kids’ channel operation produced revenues of $16.9 million (up 47 per cent), with a positive EBITDA of $400,000, compared with a negative EBITDA of $5.3 million in the first half of 1999. Advertising revenues more than doubled to $5.4 million.

Overall subscriber numbers in established markets were up 12 per cent to 13.4 million. Some 2.3 million new subs were also added from the launch of new channels in Spain and in central and eastern Europe, taking the overall total as of November 30 to 15.7 million, an increase of 30 per cent. Fox Kids claimed a reach of 17.9 million subs as March 1 2000, with Fox Kids Italy scheduled to launch on Stream in April.

Investment analysts at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter gave Fox Kids stock a ‘neutral’ rating in the wake of the results announcement. Morgan Stanley said that Fox Kids’ EBITDA and revenues were higher than expected. The net loss was also slightly larger than the analysts had expected. However, Fox Kids management admitted that revenues from programme distribution were heavily weighted towards the first half. Fox Kids is now expected to launch a Turkish, as well as a German version of the channel, though timing for either launch is not yet clear. Fox Kids Europe chief executive Ynon Kreiz reportedly has said that the channel, which will be 100 per cent owned by Fox Kids Europe, will launch before the end of the year and that he was hopeful a deal with Kirch Group could be struck for carriage as part of the Premiere World platform.

Fox Kids’ dedicated channel for Italy is set to launch in April. “The project is on track to meet its launch date which is April 1,” said Marc-Antoine D’Halluin, group managing director, Fox Kids Channels Europe. “We have a local team on the ground in Rome working day and night on preparation of the launch. We will also launch an Internet channel which will be the first step in a pan-European approach to a new generation of sites for us.”

It is likely that the German channel will wholly owned by Fox Kids, rather than a joint venture. D’Halluin declined to confirm this but said: “We know how to operate channels and we generally want to operate the channels that have our name. That’s the underlying assumption.”