DGAP-News: Bastei Lübbe AG / Key word(s): Final Results
Bastei Lübbe AG: Cologne-Based media concern posts strong EBIT growth:
Bastei Lübbe AG completes successful 2013/14 fiscal year
30.06.2014 / 08:35
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Cologne-Based media concern posts strong EBIT growth:
Bastei Lübbe AG completes successful 2013/14 fiscal year
- Revenues of 107.5 million euros (+9.4%); EBIT of 14.9 million euros
(+24.7%); annual profits of 9.1 million euros (+14.5%)
- Broad growth stretching across all three publishing fields (Book,
Puzzle and Serialised Novels and Non-Book)
- Executive Board and Supervisory Board recommend dividends of 0.28 euro
cents per share to annual stockholders meeting
Cologne, 30 June 2014. Media company Bastei Lübbe AG has posted revenue and
earnings growth for the 2013/2014 fiscal year (as at the reporting date of
31 March). Revenues rose during the reporting period by 9.4% to 107.5
million euros, while earnings before taxes and interest (EBIT) climbed to
14.9 million euros. The bottom line: annual profits rose by 14.5%
year-on-year to 9.1 million euros. "We're pleased to look back on a highly
successful 2013/14 fiscal year that saw us continue the positive trend from
a year ago. Our growth strategy paid off", explains Thomas Schierack, CEO
at Bastei Lübbe AG.
One special point of pride: "The positive sales trend stretches across all
segments", notes Thomas Schierack, who oversaw a rise in sales from 98.3
million euros a year ago to 107.5 million euros now. The strong-performing
'Book' segment rose by 8.4 percent to 85.8 million euros. The "Serialised
Novels/Puzzle Magazines" and "Non-Book" saw even higher growth, with
revenues increasing by 18.4% (to 10.2 million euros) and 9.0% (to 11.5
million euros) respectively.
Bastei Lübbe also managed to continue its dynamic growth in the area of
electronic media, one of the greatest pillars of growth for the entire
media group. "The share of digital products in terms of overall sales has
almost doubled in recent years. If you add in digital audio sales, digital
has come to represent more than 14.5% of overall revenues. We will continue
to expand this area as well. In the medium term this will also include our
two most recent acquisitions, namely majority stakes in Daedalic
Entertainment GmbH and BookRix GmbH & Co. KG, although both transactions
came after the reporting deadline in May 2014", Bastei Lübbe's CEO
commented.
One sign of Bastei Lübbe's growing profitability can be seen in the
Earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT), which grew even more quickly
than revenues: The EBIT totalled 14.9 million euros in fiscal year 2013/14,
which is 24.7% higher year-on-year (PY: 12.0 million euros). The "Book"
division enjoyed especially strong growth (+49.2% to 14.6 million euros).
The "Serialised Novels/Puzzle Magazines" segment also posted gains (by
5.5%, to 1.1 million euro), while the "Non-Book" segment reported losses of
0.8 million euros (after gains of 1.1 million euros a year ago).
Total assets amounted to 108.1 million euro at the end of the fiscal year,
up from 88.8 million euro at the close of FY 2012/13. The growth primarily
reflects the capital increase achieved through the public offering from
October 2013. As at 31 March 2014, equity capital had increased from 26.8
million to 52.1 million euros y/y. As such, equity capital now represents
48.1% of net assets (up from 30.2%). The operative cash flow increased to
11.1 million euro (PY: 1.6 million euros).
As announced at the time of the IPO, the Bastei Lübbe media group intends
to pursue a sustainable dividend strategy. This policy calls for
shareholders to share appropriately in the positive annual results, or, as
Bastei Lübbe CEO Thomas Schierack puts it: "We have positioned ourselves
with a shareholder-friendly position involving sustainable dividend
policies. For this reason the executive board and supervisory board are
currently planning on issuing the recommendation to the annual shareholders
meeting on 17 September 2014 that a dividend of 0.28 euros/share should be
issued, allowing shareholders to share in the company's strong
performance." This is not intended as a one-time payment, but rather the
start of an ongoing dividend strategy. "In the future we intended to issue
40 to 50 per cent of the dividend-eligible annual profits to our
shareholders, presuming such dividend payments are compatible with our
strategy for long-term, sustainable growth in the business", Schierack
continues.
For the ongoing fiscal year, Bastei Lübbe is predicting moderate revenue
growth and flat EBIT y/y. The 'Book' segment is forecast as the company's
growth driver, in particular the digital area. Greater stability is
expected for the Serialised Novel and Puzzle Magazine divisions, while
slight growth is forecast for the 'Non-Book' segment. "Foreign revenues,
especially from planned joint ventures in China and the USA, are not
expected to impact results until the 2015/16 fiscal year. The resulting
start-up costs will however be counted against the ongoing fiscal year",
Schierack explains.
He fundamental expects continuing positive trends for 2014/15. "First
quarter revenue and profits are expected to fall short of their y/y levels.
The first quarter of 2013/14 saw tremendous revenue and profits from the
best-seller 'Inferno' from Dan Brown, published in May 2013. That one book
alone rang in roughly nine million euros in sales -- but Bastei Lübbe AG
does not have a comparable best-seller in the pipeline for Q1 2014/2015.
Based on our experience, though, the lower revenues from the first quarter
will be more than recovered over the course of the entire 2014/15 reporting
year through the expected revenue boosts in the second and third quarters.
This includes for example a significant bump in sales and profits from a
new book from best-selling author Ken Follett to be published in Q2
2014/15", Schierack says.
About Bastei Lübbe AG:
Bastei Lübbe AG is a media company organised around its publishing venture.
The Cologne-based company currently has around 335 employees. It publishes
books, audio books, ebooks and digital products in both the literary and
popular science genres, as well as serialised novels and puzzle magazines.
Bastei Lübbe is also actively involved in brand licensing and the
development, production and distribution of gift, decoration and
merchandising articles. Bastei Lübbe has for many years enjoyed an almost
unbroken streak as the market leader in the growing segment of hard-cover
literature; in 2013 its literary ebooks division was also ranked number one
on the market. 2013 saw the company's 60th anniversary celebration and its
launch as a publicly traded company. Shares of Bastei Lübbe AG are listed
in the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN A1X3YY,
ISIN DE000A1X3YY0).
Contact for Bastei Lübbe AG:
Barbara Fischer
Director of PR and
Event Marketing
Tel. :+49 (0) 221 / 82 00 28 50
E-Mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe. de
End of Corporate News
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Language: English
Company: Bastei Lübbe AG
SchanzenstraÃe 6 - 20
51063 Köln
Germany
Phone: 02 21 / 82 00 - 0
Fax: 02 21 / 82 00 - 1900
E-mail: investorrelations@luebbe.de
Internet: www.luebbe.de
ISIN: DE000A1X3YY0, DE000A1K0169
WKN: A1X3YY, A1K016
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover,
Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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275737 30.06.2014
DGAP-News: Bastei Lübbe AG: Cologne-Based media concern posts strong EBIT growth: Bastei Lübbe AG completes successful 2013/14 fiscal year
| Quelle: EQS Group AG