DQE eyes Rs 100 cr revenue in next 2 yrs

Animation and gaming company DQ Entertainment (DQE), which got listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) today, said it is eyeing revenues of Rs 100 crore from TV series production in the next two years.

"We have orders worth Rs 436 crore till date and will be executing them over the next two-and-half years. We are also eyeing Rs 100 crore revenue from the production of our TV series. We expect to maintain our growth at 35 per cent for the next two years," DQE Chairman and CEO Tapaas Chakravarti told reporters here today.

The company has signed a co-production agreement with the UK-based Hive Entertainment Ltd for producing an animated TV series-- 'The Hive'.

It will be produced as a series of 78 episodes at a global budget of Rs 24 crore each, which will be developed in high-end 3D CGI, he said.

Chakravarti said five-six projects namely Balkhand I, Omkar, Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Charlie Chaplin, Hive and Iron Man, which will use this technology are for Indian television.

DQE also plans to foray into movie-production, Chakravarti said, adding that two animated ones are already under production.

The company, that listed with a premium of nearly 69 per cent over its issue price at Rs 135 on the BSE, has raised Rs 128 crore through its IPO and would use the proceeds to finance co-production, focus on IP content creation and development of infrastructure at the SEZ unit in Kokapet in Hyderabad.

The company would also recruit 600 professionals in the next two months in the country, he said. Currently, it has 2,800 employees in India.

Shares of DQE after being listed on the BSE, jumped 75 per cent over their issue price of Rs 80 to a high of Rs 140.

A total of 42.93 lakh shares changed hands on the BSE in opening trade.

DQE is engaged in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of entertainment content.

It has the largest animation production capacity for television, feature films, home video, online game art, mobile and next generation console games across all formats as well as visual effects.

DQE will also merchandise products catering for school-going children in the country.