Bad Sisters helps generate £23m revenue at Sharon Horgan's production firm

Merman post-tax profits fell from £388,188 (€446,000) to £167,428 (€191,000) last year

Sarah Greene, Anne-Marie Duff, Sharon Horgan, Eva Birthistle, Eve Hewson in Bad Sisters. The hit show helped generate revenues of £23.2m (€26.73m) for Sharon Horgan’s TV and movie production firm, Merman Television last year.
Picture: PA Photo/AppleTV+

Revenues at Sharon Horgan’s TV and movie production firm, Merman Television last year generated £23.2m (€26.73m) in revenues due to the global success of hits such as Bad Sisters.

According to new consolidated accounts for Ms Horgan’s Merman Television Ltd, they show that the group’s post-tax profits fell from £388,188 (€446,000) to £167,428 (€191,000) last year.

On the back of Ms Horgan’s writing, the London-based production firm’s business has grown exponentially due to the worldwide success of the critically acclaimed Divorce, Motherland, Catastrophe, and Bad Sisters. Series 2 of Bad Sisters premiered on Apple+ in November 2024. Revenues at the business last year declined by 12% from £26.32m (€30.2bn) to £23.2m (€26.6m). 

The group recorded a pre-tax loss of £4.48m but last year but received £4.65m (€6.25m) in UK TV and movie tax credits to record a post-tax profit of £167,428 (€191,000).

Writer, director, producer, and actor, Ms Horgan built up the business with now ex-husband, Jeremy Rainbird and co-founder, Clelia Mountford. Ms Mountford resigned from the board at the end of October 2024 and Mr Rainbird received just under €1m in a share-deal when exiting Merman Television in 2023. The group’s cash funds decreased in 2024 from £8.8m (€10.1m) to £1.6m (€1.84m).

Numbers employed by the business last year remained at 14 as staff costs increased from £1.77m to £1.99m. Pay to directors increased by 18% to £1.02m (€1.17m) and the highest paid director received £359,375 (€412,000).

The firm was founded in 2014 and the directors state that Merman Television “will continue to operate as a distinct company developing and producing programmes for major UK broadcasters and streaming platforms”.

On the risks facing the group, the directors state that “broadcasters have started to tighten their belts, off the back of the pandemic, broadcasters have been extremely slow and hesitant to commission, spending less on programmes amid expectations of reduced ad income and waiting to see a full series rather than accepting episodes one by one”.

They state that “this is due to a number of external factors including the rise of streaming services transforming the way television is viewed”. The directors also point to the new streaming services tending to acquire all intellectual property rights "so that a shift commissioning to these services may adversely impact the company's distribution revenue".

At the end of December 2024, the group’s accumulated profits totalled £553,575 (€635,000).