Film studios often spend fortunes making films that then flop.
Wanda group, the Chinese conglomerate reaching from media to property, might think it has a blockbuster on its hands. It is reportedly interested in buying a 49 per cent stake in Paramount Pictures from its parent, US media conglomerate Viacom.
The mooted valuation — $10bn is the high end of estimates — does not look cheap. It is nearly three times Jefferies’ estimate of Paramount’s worth. Viacom does not split out Paramount’s figures, but its film entertainment division, of which Paramount is the main part, had average annual operating income of $240m in the past five fiscal years, and the trend has been downward over that period.