Carlton Communications Plc, the London-based media group that operates the independent television franchise in the capital and the English Midlands,now has just two companies in its video and sound products division, and turnover was flat but operating profits rose sharply in the past year. The division now comprises Quantel and Solid State Logic, with ImMIX having being sold in September 1994 and Abekas going at the end of the last fiscal (CI No 2,752). Both were acquired by Herzliya, Israel-based Scitex Corp Ltd. Turnover at the video and sound products division was virtually static at ú169.1m, while operating profits rose 43% to ú32.5m. Quantel’s quaintly-named Henry tapeless visual effects editing system has now been sold into more than 20 countries, and the upgrade, Hippo, was released during the year and has been taken up by 70% of the existing customers. Quantel has won orders for the Clipbox digital server from Fuji Television in Tokyo, British Sky Broadcasting, RTL-4 in the Netherlands and CLT in Luxembourg. Quantel also launched new version of its videographics and still store systems, Paintbox Express, Hal Express and Picturebox Express. Graphic Paintbox 2 was also unveiled for the printing industry, and will start shipping in the new year. Solid State Logic still gets 40% of its sales from the music industry but has a significant presence in film and television as well. It launched two major products during the year, the 9000 J-Series sound and recording mixing console, and the Axiom, a digital console with an analogue interface for mixing sound to feature films. Abekas contributed ú33.8m of turnover and a ú1.8m operating loss during the year. Overall, Carlton’s group pre-tax profits were ahead 30% at ú246.7m, on turnover that was up 12% at ú1,579.6m. Some 42% of revenues came from broadcast television, up from 35% last time, with video production and distribution the next biggest earner. The dividend is going up 14% at 23.6 pence.
