BBC Worldwide has published its Annual Review for 2011/12 showing an eight percent rise in headline profit to £155m (2010/11: £144m). 

Profit before tax of £104m (2010/11: £92m excluding gains on disposals) is up 13% on a like for like basis. The company grew headline sales by 5% to £1,085m in the 12 months to 31 March 2012 (2010/11: £1,030m). These figures exclude the BBC Magazine titles sold and licensed in the year.

Sales & Distribution is BBC Worldwide’s largest profit centre, generating a headline profit of £72m on headlines sales of £293m this year. It is the largest distributor of finished TV programmes outside the US studios with a sales team present in 11 global offices serving 200 territories.

The continuation of a successful growth strategy, focusing on key client relationships, programme prioritisation, active catalogue management and digital, resulted in a fourth year of double-digit profit growth. 

In Asia Pacific, revenue growth was particularly strong in Australia and New Zealand, where BBC renewed its first option deal with public service broadcaster ABC, and signed a number of digital licensing deals.  The broadcaster also had an excellent year in China, helped by digital growth and pre-sales on Science programming.