Lime Pictures, the Liverpool-based production company behind Hollyoaks, The Only Way is Essex and Geordie Shore, has reported a turnover of £65.2m for 2023, following a surge to £100.9m in 2022 from £63.3m in 2021. The decrease in total sales was due to a significant reduction in its US turnover from £22.7m to £415,142, while º£½ÇÊÓƵ sales also fell from £78m to £64.7m.
The company's pre-tax profit also saw a decrease from £3m to £933,8787. Despite these challenges, the board remains optimistic about the company's performance across its portfolio of scripted and non-scripted series and its ability to secure new programme commissions, as reported by .
However, they acknowledge that inflationary pressures will continue to impact programme margins over the next year, with increases in labour, energy and material costs outpacing corresponding programme tariffs from broadcasters. The owner of Lime Pictures recently sold the company for £1.15bn.
Founded by Sir Phil Redmond in the early 1980s as Mersey Television, the company was later acquired by All3Media in 2005. Lime Pictures' first major production was the soap opera Brookside for Channel 4, and it took over the production of Grange Hill, another creation of Sir Phil Redmond, in 2003.
Since 2016, the company has been producing Celebs Go Dating for E4 and was also behind Free Rain for Netflix. All3Media, which comprises 40 production and distribution companies, is owned by Warner Bros Discovery and Liberty Global.
Earlier this year, it was acquired by RedBird IMI, an investment fund led by US media titan Jeff Zucker, in a deal valued at £1.15bn. The owner of Lime Pictures also owns studios that produce shows like The Traitors, Call the Midwife, Squid Game: The Challenge and Gogglebox.
In 2023, All3Media generated revenue of £995.1m, down from over £1bn in the previous 12 months. It also reported a pre-tax loss of £27.8m after a loss of £29.7m in 2022.
However, the group did achieve its highest level of EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) in the year, increasing from £100.2m to £107.4m.
