KIDS’ CHARACTER PEPPA Pig has just delivered a billion-dollar return for its owners.

And Entertainment One, which owns half the rights to the children’s TV series and all the characters’ merchandising rights, said it wants to turn the cartoon swine into “the world’s most loved pre-school property”.

The company reported the brand had delivered $1 billion (€897 million) in retail sales last financial year with over 600 licensing deals signed as the British show continued to take over the world.

It said this year Peppa Pig would get a US retail push while it also expected to sign a broadcast deal for the world’s most populous market, China.

The show launched on the UK’s Channel 5 in 2004 and made its debut on US screens via the Cartoon Network the following year. It was the top-trending TV show in Ireland last year based on Google searches.

Source: Dominic Lipinski/PA Wire

Licensed products for the series now include everything from DVDs, video games, toys and books, to furniture and electronics as the show has been rolled out to over 180 territories worldwide.

That has been enough to net its creators, Astley Baker Davies, a fortune worth hundreds of millions in pounds – although it’s still a long way off overtaking the highest-earning cartoon series, The Simpsons, which has generated over $12 billion during its 25-year life span.

Source: Giphy

READ: UTV Ireland is set to hit us with a whole lot of news >

READ: Here’s why it’s likely you STILL won’t be able to watch BBC online in Ireland >