Entertainment One cheers Peppa Pig's global success

The group said the film release of Peppa Pig: My First Cinema Experience raked in £3.6m in box office takings in the UK, as well as another £1.3m in Australia and New Zealand.

It added that revenues have also been better-than-expected across China, where Peppa Pig is rapidly gaining new fans, with demand also soaring for branded toys, clothing and home furnishings.

This has been driven by nationwide broadcast on China’s CCTV network and through more than 34 billion views on Chinese social media platforms since the launch of the brand in September 2015, according to the group.

Entertainment One, which also owns film business eOne and a television arm, said all its divisions were performing on track.

But the Canada-based, UK-listed media group revealed box office revenues at its film division nearly halved so far in the year to date due to a lack of new releases - at £48m against £89m a year ago.

The firm said this is expected to turn around in the second half, with the recent release of Charlize Theron’s Atomic Blonde expected to make £75m worldwide, followed by other new titles including Steven Spielberg-directed film The Post, Paddington 2 and A Bad Moms Christmas.

The group added that its content media library has increased in value by £149,365 to £1.3bn as at March 31 after an independent valuation.

Entertainment One recently took a £47m hit from restructuring its film arm, shifting the business towards digital content and producing fewer, bigger movies.

This saw annual profits dive 22 per cent to £37.2m.

Entertainment One has been the subject of takeover approaches in recent years, with ITV abandoning a £1bn pursuit of the firm last year after its initial offer was snubbed.