Nov. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Eros International Plc, the U.K.'s biggest distributor of Indian movies, said profit surged 71 percent in the first half on ``strong'' demand for productions in India.

Net income for the six months ended Sept. 30 advanced to $12.6 million, or 11.44 cents a share, from $7.4 million, or 14.15 cents a year earlier, Eros said in a statement today. Sales climbed 59 percent to $34.6 million.

Eros increased the number of Bollywood movie distributions in Indian cinemas to five during the period, compared with one in 2006, Chief Financial Officer Andrew Heffernan said in an interview. Cinema sales of ``Om Shanti Om'' in India this month were a record $13.5 million in the first week, Eros said Nov. 20.

Eros has a library of more than 1,300 films and a distribution network across India. The value of the Indian film industry is expected to climb to $25 billion in revenue by 2011 from $10 billion currently, the company said.

``The growth has just started, it's all about Bollywood,'' Chief Executive Officer Kishore Lulla said in an interview. The influx of ``multiplex'' cinemas into India is increasing the average price of tickets more than threefold to $3, so domestic sales will continue to rise, he said.

Tamil Movies

More than 3.9 billion cinema tickets were sold in India last year, and the estimated 1,500 multiplex screens in India are forecast to double by 2009, the statement said.

``Underlying earnings are benefiting from the well executed move into Indian theatrical distribution,'' Adrian Kearsey, an analyst at Evolution Securities Ltd., said in a note to clients. Kearsey repeated his 2008 profit forecasts, and increased pretax profit estimates for 2009 by 24 percent to $72 million, on increased Tamil film contribution.

In July, Eros bought 51 percent of Ayngaran International Ltd., a distributor of Tamil movies. After Hindi, Tamil is the second most used dialect in the Indian film industry and the investment ``should materially enhance Eros's earnings,'' Kearsey said. He rates the stock a ``buy.'' Evolution is the company's stockbroker.

Eros, founded in 1977, signed a deal with Sony Corp. in March for a package of its films to be broadcast on Sony Entertainment Television, and also set up YouTube's first so- called Bollywood channel in May.

Eros advanced 10 pence, or 2.6 percent, to 397.5 pence in London, giving the London-based company a market value of 437.9 million pounds ($902 million). The stock has added 25 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Tim Barwell in London on tbarwell@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 28, 2007 11:44 EST