Jumpy Small Cap British Film and TV Stocks: Should You Get on the Ratings Bandwagon? SAPX, DCD, IFM, TTV

Small cap British film or TV stocks DCD Media Plc (LON: DCD), Intandem Films Plc (LON: IFM) and Talent Group PLC (LON: TTV) produced some sizable moves on Friday – perhaps in part to the fact that Seven Arts Pictures PLC (NASDAQ: SAPX) has been getting promoted over on our side of the pond. Specifically, at least $80,000 and $5,000 has changed hands to promote American listed Seven Arts Pictures PLC (SAPX), which is involved in film production and distribution as well as loan financing facilities, while Google Finance has DCD Media Plc (DCD) closing up 11.11%, Intandem Films Plc (IFM) up 9.09% but Talent Group PLC (TTV) fell 9.09% on Friday (for the record: SAPX ended the week down 24%). As an American fan of Britcoms and British documentaries, I certainly have never thought of investing or trading in a small cap British media or film company. Hence, should you skip over Seven Arts Pictures PLC (SAPX) and wager a bet on DCD Media Plc (DCD), Intandem Films Plc (IFM) and Talent Group PLC (TTV) or just stick to watching the shows and films these companies produce? Here is a closer look at all three British film or TV stocks to help you decide:

DCD Media Plc (LON: DCD)

DCD Media Plc is a television production and distribution group with six production companies working across all non fiction genres (including documentary, factual, fact entertainment, reality and drama documentary) on both sides of the Atlantic. On Friday, DCD Media Plc up 11.11% to 2.50p for a market cap of 3.20M GBP. It should be noted that DCD Media Plc has more than doubled in value since the start of the year. The reason for the surge was the announcement from DCD Media Plc that it has won $6 million worth of contracts – specifically a new order from American cable network WE tv. DCD Media Plc will recognize the income across 2011 and 2012. This may or may not be helpful as for 2010, net income of 679.00k turned into a net loss of 7.74m despite a revenue surge of 40.11% to 48.36m on the back of rising selling, general and administrative costs as a percentage of sales

Intandem Films Plc (LON: IFM)

Intandem Films Plc is an integrated film company involved in the executive production and international sales and marketing of feature films. On Friday, Intandem Films Plc rose 9.09% to 4.50p for a market cap of 5.68m GBP. Intandem Films Plc is up 20% since the start of the year and its also up 50% off its 52 week low of 3.00 set last October. However, Intandem Films Plc did report that that for 2011, revenues rose 10.43% to 469.48k but net income fell from 3.31m to a net loss of 464.47k. Intandem Films Plc’s gain for 2010 was the result of selling a film asset and the company has noted that its Board is “conscious” of the need to generate higher revenues to stem operating losses and plans to do this by producing bigger budget films. It should be noted that in May, Intandem Films Plc signed an agreement with Mary Alice Productions for the production and international sales of a number of films in the $20 million to $40 million budget range and the company is currently working with Mary Alice to close financing on a $25 million comedy and a $15 million documentary film.

Talent Group PLC (LON: TTV)

Talent Group Plc is involved in the creation, development and production of television shows and series in a range of formats for both United Kingdom broadcasters and international distribution. On Friday, Talent Group Plc fell 9.09% to 2.50p for a market cap of 658.81k GBP. Nevertheless, Talent Group Plc is up about 4% for the year but its also down around 24% over the past year. However, Talent Group PLC did grow revenues 33.84% from 653.00k to 874.00k for 2011 while net income improved from a net loss of 492.00k to net income of 31.00k (TTV also improved its cash position). Talent Group PLC’s Chairman noted that the improvement is largely based around three large projects it undertook for the 2011 financial year - all of which should continue to contribute to TTV’s profitability over the next 12 months.

The Bottom Line. I am not sure if British investors have noticed Seven Arts Pictures PLC (SAPX) and any promotions for it but traders with a big stomach for risk might want to take a closer look at DCD Media Plc (DCD), Intandem Films Plc (IFM) and Talent Group PLC (TTV) as their fortunes rise.