Pinewood to report annual results today

Pinewood Shepperton, which owns the studios where the James Bond films are made, including Quantum of Solace, starring Daniel Craig, reports annual results on Wednesday, writes The FT. Investors will be looking for reassurance in the event of strike action from the Screen Actors Guild, the US labour union.

A strike could affect the flow of titles made this year as no producer wants to have filming disrupted by the knock-on effects to budgets and schedules. Any delays in agreeing film deals could make Pinewood overly reliant on the second half of next year.

The company's television production studios, where shows for UK consumption such as The Weakest Link and Lily Allen & Friends are made, saw a strong first half but analysts expect weakness in the second half as pressure has been building on budgets for new TV commissions.

However, the UK now has an advantage it did not have 18 months ago - the weakening of sterling against the dollar has made it cheaper to make films there. Charles Stanley, the stockbroker, is expecting £39.8m of sales and £5.9m of pre-tax profits for 2008.

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