Pinewood counts cost of US film disputes

Russell Crowe has been in filming Ridley Scott's new Robin Hood adventure, Jack Black has been doing the latest take on Gulliver's Travels, and Ricky Gervais and Stephen Marchant have been tweaking their 1970s homage to Reading in Cemetary Junction.

But the bottleneck in production because of the recent screenwriters' and actors' disputes in America has seen a drop off in work at the heart of Britain's film industry west of London, with the Pinewood, Shepperton and Teddington studios group today reporting a 55% slump in half-year profits.

Ivan Dunleavy, the chief executive and co-founder of listed Pinewood Shepperton alongside his chairman Michael Grade, the boss of ITV, said any recovery is dependent on when the films start rolling back in.

"We are now moving on from the Screen Actors Guild dispute and film revenues for the remainder of the year will depend as ever on the timing of new film starts," said Dunleavy. "It is about phasing rather than any reduction in consumer demand for film.

"We do not name any particular film that may come to us but we are encouraged by the number of enquiries."

Film revenues, which account for the bulk of Pinewood Shepperton's income, tumbled by £1.2 million, while revenues from television — suffering from the general brake on expensive, small-screen drama — fell £300,000.

With debt costs rising, that saw Pinewood Shepperton's pre-tax profits nosedive from £3.8 million to £1.7 million.

The group's interim dividend is being held at 1.05p.