Footballers' Wives boosts Shed profits

CONRAD, Chardonnay, Shannon and the other glitzy characters in the trashy ITV hit Footballers' Wives have so far made television production company Shed Productions £2.5m of profit, it emerged today.

The four series of the racy show about the behind- the- scenes shenanigans at the fictional Earls Park football club have seen Shed make £1.3m from ITV and £1.2m from overseas broadcast sales, DVDs and other spin-offs.

Shed said today it had been commissionedfor a fifth series of the franchise by ITV. Meanwhile, chief executive Eileen Gallagher said Shed was now working on dramas with the BBC and Channel 4 for the first time.

As with its ITV deals, Shed will be able to profit from DVD, overseas and secondary broadcast sales on channels like UK Gold.

Half-year pre-tax profits at the group, recently floated on Aim, were £2.3m against £126,717 a year earlier. Sales were £11.9m compared with £6m.

Shed chief executive Eileen Gallagher said the company continued to benefit from changes in the independent television sector ushered in by the 2003 Communications Act, which has seen TV production houses retain the rights over the programmes they make.

'New programming is coming through as planned and the outlook for the financial year remains strong and in line with our expectations,' said Gallagher in a statement.