Civilian Content hasposted a $2m (£1.1m) pre-tax loss for the year ended December 31, 2003.

The AIM-listed UKproduction and sales company cited production and delivery delays for draggingit into the red after posting a small profit the year before of $190,000(£103,000). The late delivery of John Boorman's Country Of MySkull,Civilian's South African drama with Juliette Binoche, was a particularfactor.

"Our largestanticipated rights sale, in respect of the film Country Of My Skull, did not take place until2004 because of a delay in the delivery of the film to our sales agent, TheWorks, and the results have been affected by this," the company said in astatement. "The film has now been widely sold, including to Sony in anumber of key territories, resulting in commissions in excess of $850,000 whichwill be recognised this year."

Last year's lossalso included an exceptional write-down triggered by the disposal ofloss-making TV division Isis Productions in September 2003, amounting to $1m(£577,000).

Crispin Barker,non-executive chairman of Civilian, highlighted the company's newinvestor, Italy's Fandango, and its recently-unveiled joint venture withfinancier SureFire. The SureFire deal provides Civilian with $2.2m(£1.2m) in development cash now that its National Lottery franchise hasexpired.

"I anticipate thatthe combination of a SureFire production fund and Civilian's expertise willlead to significantly expanded film activities and further enhance Civilian'sposition within the UK film industry," Barker said.

Managing director ChrisAuty added: "The last quarter saw two of the most significant events inthe company's development: on the one hand, the introduction of a new long termtrade shareholder, Fandango, which also significantly enhanced the group's cashposition and product supply; and on the other the negotiation of the Surefirejoint venture which was announced after the year end, and which lays the groundfor new film development and production financing."