The directors present the strategic report for the year ended 31 December 2023.
During the period the company was involved in the production of a feature film. At the year end, the company incurred a profit of £15,000 (2022: £15,000) and had net assets of £65,001 (2022: £50,001).
The directors have reviewed the risks and resultant uncertainties facing the company and consider the principal risks to be legislative changes and the state of the national economy.
The company makes little use of financial instruments other than an operational bank account and so its exposure to price risk, credit risk, liquidity risk and cash flow risk is not material for the assessment of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the company.
The directors consider the company's key performance indicator to be whether the motion picture is produced in line with the agreed budget. Deviation from this will not however result in the withdrawal of support for the production from its financiers.
The directors consider the company's key non-financial performance indicator to be whether the company creates and delivers the feature films it has been contracted to produce for general release in national and international cinema and the film is certified as British. As of the date of signature, the company has received the Final British Film Certificate following completion and release of the film.
Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006 requires directors to have regard to the following in performing their duties, and as part of the process are required to consider, where relevant:
The likely long-term consequences of the decision.
The interests of the company’s employees.
The need to foster the company’s business relationships with suppliers, customers and others.
The impact of the company’s operations on the community and the environment.
The desire to maintain the company’s reputation for high standards of business conduct.
The need to act fairly between members of the company.
Decisions made by the company’s directors are in line with Comcast NBCUniversal group’s strategic goals and Comcast Code of Conduct. The key decisions made at the company level include approving the annual financial statements and dividend distribution in board meetings. Whilst making decisions, at a group and company level, the following section 172 factors are considered:
Our employees
At Comcast NBCUniversal, we strive to make every employee feel valued and respected for who they are and the unique contributions they make. The company places considerable value on the involvement of its employees through group communications, regular leadership broadcasts of strategy and performance, employee surveys and Town Hall sessions which are run across the group. We provide all employees with the Comcast Code of Conduct and annual training to help them understand their responsibilities. The Comcast NBCUniversal group considers the interests of employees in their decision-making process. Decisions made by the company’s directors are in line with the group’s strategy and purpose.
Our partners
As a group, Comcast NBCUniversal understand the need to foster relationships with suppliers and customers. We seek to build long-term relationships with them and help them succeed. A critical part of doing business is partnering with others, and we believe that partnerships are built on trust and mutual advantage. We interact honestly and with integrity in the marketplace and expect our business partners to do the same. The group considers these relationships in their decision-making process. Decisions made by the company’s directors are in line with the group’s strategy and purpose.
Our communities
The impact on the community are considered as part of Comcast NBCUniversal group’s strategy and purpose. As a group uniquely positioned to educate, entertain, and empower, we are committed to bringing together diverse communities and inspiring our customers, audiences, and employees to make a positive impact. We focus our efforts in three areas:
Making a difference in our communities through volunteerism (Comcast NBCUnites program which consists of giving back to local communities) and leadership development
Increasing technology access and expanding digital skills within our communities
Leveraging our far-reaching storytelling platforms to educate our audiences and ignite conversations about critical issues that shape the world.
Our members
The Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of NBCUniversal and is part of the Comcast Group. The duties of the directors are exercised in a way that is most likely to promote the success of the Company and NBCUniversal as a whole while also having regard to the factors outlined in Section 172 of the Companies Act 2006.
All decisions made by the company’s directors are in line with the group’s strategy and purpose. Further details are available in Comcast Code of Conduct and Comcast values at www.cmcsa.com.
On behalf of the board
The directors present their annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2023.
The results for the year are set out on page 9.
No ordinary dividends were paid. The directors do not recommend payment of a final dividend.
The directors who held office during the year and up to the date of signature of the financial statements were as follows:
The auditor, Saffery LLP, is deemed to be reappointed under section 487(2) of the Companies Act 2006.
As the company has not consumed more than 40,000 kWh of energy in this reporting period, it qualifies as a low energy user under these regulations and is not required to report on its emissions, energy consumption or energy efficiency activities.
Basis for opinion
Conclusions relating to going concern
In auditing the financial statements, we have concluded that the directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting in the preparation of the financial statements is appropriate.
Based on the work we have performed, we have not identified any material uncertainties relating to events or conditions that, individually or collectively, may cast significant doubt on the company's ability to continue as a going concern for a period of at least twelve months from when the financial statements are authorised for issue.
Our responsibilities and the responsibilities of the directors with respect to going concern are described in the relevant sections of this report.
Other information
Opinions on other matters prescribed by the Companies Act 2006
In our opinion, based on the work undertaken in the course of our audit:
the information given in the strategic report and the directors' report for the financial year for which the financial statements are prepared is consistent with the financial statements; and
the strategic report and the directors' report have been prepared in accordance with applicable legal requirements.
As explained more fully in the directors' responsibilities statement set out on page 4, the directors are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements and for being satisfied that they give a true and fair view, and for such internal control as the directors determine is necessary to enable the preparation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error. In preparing the financial statements, the directors are responsible for assessing the company's ability to continue as a going concern, disclosing, as applicable, matters related to going concern and using the going concern basis of accounting unless the directors either intend to liquidate the company or to cease operations, or have no realistic alternative but to do so.
Our objectives are to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, and to issue an auditor's report that includes our opinion. Reasonable assurance is a high level of assurance but is not a guarantee that an audit conducted in accordance with ISAs (UK) will always detect a material misstatement when it exists. Misstatements can arise from fraud or error and are considered material if, individually or in the aggregate, they could reasonably be expected to influence the economic decisions of users taken on the basis of these financial statements.
Irregularities, including fraud, are instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations. We design procedures in line with our responsibilities, outlined above, to detect material misstatements in respect of irregularities, including fraud. The specific procedures for this engagement and the extent to which these are capable of detecting irregularities, including fraud are detailed below.
Identifying and assessing risks related to irregularities:
We assessed the susceptibility of the company’s financial statements to material misstatement and how fraud might occur, including through discussions with the directors, discussions within our audit team planning meeting, updating our record of internal controls and ensuring these controls operated as intended. We evaluated possible incentives and opportunities for fraudulent manipulation of the financial statements. We identified laws and regulations that are of significance in the context of the company by discussions with directors and by updating our understanding of the sector in which the company operates.
Laws and regulations of direct significance in the context of the company include The Companies Act 2006 and UK Tax legislation, specifically legislation relating to creative industry tax credits.
Audit response to risks identified:
We considered the extent of compliance with these laws and regulations as part of our audit procedures on the related financial statement items including a review of financial statement disclosures. We reviewed the company's records of breaches of laws and regulations, minutes of meetings and correspondence with relevant authorities to identify potential material misstatements arising. We discussed the company's policies and procedures for compliance with laws and regulations with members of management responsible for compliance. We have reviewed management's assessment of how the company, and production, comply with the relevant laws and regulations governing access to the creative industry tax credits.
In addition, the company is subject to other laws and regulations that do not have a direct effect on the financial statements but compliance with which may be fundamental to its ability to operate or to avoid a material penalty. Such laws and regulations include anti-bribery legislation.
During the planning meeting with the audit team, the engagement partner drew attention to the key areas which might involve non-compliance with laws and regulations or fraud. We enquired of management whether they were aware of any instances of non-compliance with laws and regulations or knowledge of any actual, suspected or alleged fraud. We addressed the risk of fraud through management override of controls by testing the appropriateness of journal entries and identifying any significant transactions that were unusual or outside the normal course of business. We assessed whether judgements made in making accounting estimates gave rise to a possible indication of management bias. At the completion stage of the audit, the engagement partner’s review included ensuring that the team had approached their work with appropriate professional scepticism and thus the capacity to identify non-compliance with laws and regulations and fraud.
There are inherent limitations in the audit procedures described above and the further removed non-compliance with laws and regulations is from the events and transactions reflected in the financial statements, the less likely we would become aware of it. Also, the risk of not detecting a material misstatement due to fraud is higher than the risk of not detecting one resulting from error, as fraud may involve deliberate concealment by, for example, forgery or intentional misrepresentations, or through collusion.
A further description of our responsibilities is available on the Financial Reporting Council’s website at: https://www.frc.org.uk/auditorsresponsibilities. This description forms part of our auditor's report.
Use of our report
This report is made solely to the company's members, as a body, in accordance with Chapter 3 of Part 16 of the Companies Act 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company's members those matters we are required to state to them in an auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company and the company's members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
The income statement has been prepared on the basis that all operations are continuing operations.
Arcadia Pictures Limited is a private company limited by shares incorporated in England and Wales. The registered office is 1 Central St. Giles, St. Giles High Street, London, WC2H 8NU.
The financial statements are prepared in sterling, which is the functional currency of the company. Monetary amounts in these financial statements are rounded to the nearest £.
This company is a qualifying entity for the purposes of FRS 102, being a member of a group where the parent of that group prepares publicly available consolidated financial statements, including this company, which are intended to give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the group. The company has therefore taken advantage of exemptions from the following disclosure requirements:
Section 4 ‘Statement of Financial Position’: Reconciliation of the opening and closing number of shares;
Section 7 ‘Statement of Cash Flows’: Presentation of a statement of cash flow and related notes and disclosures;
Section 11 ‘Basic Financial Instruments’ and Section 12 ‘Other Financial Instrument Issues’: - Carrying amounts, interest income/expense and net gains/losses for each category of financial instrument; basis of determining fair values; details of collateral, loan defaults or breaches, details of hedges, hedging fair value changes recognised in profit or loss and in other comprehensive income;
Section 33 ‘Related Party Disclosures’: Compensation for key management personnel.
The financial statements of the company are consolidated in the financial statements of Comcast Corporation. These consolidated financial statements are available from 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, New York 10112-0002, USA.
Basic financial assets, which include debtors, are initially measured at transaction price including transaction costs and are subsequently carried at amortised cost using the effective interest method unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the transaction is measured at the present value of the future receipts discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial assets classified as receivable within one year are not amortised.
Financial liabilities and equity instruments are classified according to the substance of the contractual arrangements entered into. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.
Basic financial liabilities, including creditors, bank loans, loans from fellow group companies and preference shares that are classified as debt, are initially recognised at transaction price unless the arrangement constitutes a financing transaction, where the debt instrument is measured at the present value of the future payments discounted at a market rate of interest. Financial liabilities classified as payable within one year are not amortised.
Debt instruments are subsequently carried at amortised cost, using the effective interest rate method.
Trade creditors are obligations to pay for goods or services that have been acquired in the ordinary course of business from suppliers. Amounts payable are classified as current liabilities if payment is due within one year or less. If not, they are presented as non-current liabilities. Trade creditors are recognised initially at transaction price and subsequently measured at amortised cost using the effective interest method.
Equity instruments issued by the company are recorded at the proceeds received, net of transaction costs. Dividends payable on equity instruments are recognised as liabilities once they are no longer at the discretion of the company.
Changes in the fair value of derivatives that are designated and qualify as fair value hedges are recognised in profit or loss immediately, together with any changes in the fair value of the hedged asset or liability that are attributable to the hedged risk.
In the application of the company’s accounting policies, the directors are required to make judgements, estimates and assumptions about the carrying amount of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and other factors that are considered to be relevant. Actual results may differ from these estimates.
The estimates and underlying assumptions are reviewed on an ongoing basis. Revisions to accounting estimates are recognised in the period in which the estimate is revised where the revision affects only that period, or in the period of the revision and future periods where the revision affects both current and future periods.
The estimates and assumptions which have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets and liabilities are as follows.
The key accounting estimate within the financial statements for this company is the valuation of film tax credit available. The estimate is based on the assessment of the value of qualifying expenditure as per HMRC legislations and guidance plus assessment of the qualification of the underlying production as eligible for the tax relief.
In the directors' opinion, there were no other critical judgements or other estimation uncertainties in these financial statements.
The average monthly number of persons (excluding directors) employed by the company during the year was:
Their aggregate remuneration comprised:
During both the year and the prior period there were no directors' emoluments.
The actual credit for the year can be reconciled to the expected credit for the year based on the profit or loss and the standard rate of tax as follows:
The company operates a defined contribution pension scheme for all qualifying employees. The assets of the scheme are held separately from those of the company in an independently administered fund.
The company has taken advantage of the exemption under paragraph 33.1a of FRS 102 from disclosing transactions entered into between two or more members of a group, where any subsidiary undertaking which is a party to the transaction is wholly owned by a member of that group.