NEW YORK, Oct 28 (AFP) - DreamWorks Animation, the company behind the blockbuster "Shrek" movies, Thursday enjoyed a fairytale beginning on Wall Street as its shares price leapt nearly 40 percent.
DreamWorks shares soared 10.75 dollars, or 38.39 percent, to finish at 38.75 dollars.
The Glendale, California-based producer of computer-generated animation films had distributed 29 million shares to the public at an initial price of 28 dollars, raising 812 million dollars.
DreamWorks, the first Hollywood share float in several years, reported net profit of 121 million dollars and revenue of 341 million dollars in the first six months of the year.
"Shrek 2," released in May, has become the seventh-highest grossing film in the world, raking in 880.8 million dollars, according to Boxofficemojo.com.
The latest DreamWorks hit is "Shark Tale".
The studio unit, controlled by Hollywood moguls Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg and David Geffen, filed to go public in July.
Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen sold 2.33 million shares in the DreamWorks Animation float for proceeds of about 55 million dollars.
10/28/2004 20:53 GMT - AFP