DGAP-Adhoc: Bastei Lübbe AG: Bastei Lübbe AG Sees

Bastei Lübbe AG / Key word(s): Final Results 30.06.2014 08:18 Dissemination of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmitted by DGAP - a company of EQS Group AG. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bastei Lübbe AG Sees Strong Growth in Revenues and EBIT for 2013/2014 Fiscal Year - Revenue growth of 9.4% to 107.5 million euros (PY: 98.3 million euros) - EBIT jumps by 24.7% to 14.9 million euros (PY: 12.0 million euros) - Broad growth stretches across all three publishing divisions (Book, Puzzle and Serialised Novels and Non-Book) - Executive Board and Supervisory Board recommend dividends of 0.28 euro per share to annual stockholders meeting Cologne, 30 June 2014. Bastei Lübbe AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange/Prime Standard listing code ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) has posted revenue and earnings growth on a broad basis for the 2013/2014 fiscal year. Revenues grew during the reporting period by 9.4 percent to 107.5 million euros (PY: 98.3 million euros). The positive revenue trends extended across all three segments of the company's business. The strong-performing 'Book' segment rose by 8.4% to 85.8 million euros (previous year: 79.1 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 percent (to 11.5 million euros) respectively. The fiscal year also saw Bastei Lübbe AG continue its dynamic growth in the area of electronic media, one of the greatest pillars of growth for the entire media group. Digital revenues rose from 9.0 million euros a year ago to 15.5 million euros now, representing 73.3% year-on-year growth. This totals 18.1% of revenues in the "Book" segment (PY: 11.3%). When digital audio revenues are included, digital's share of overall revenues totals more than 14%. Bastei Lübbe plans to continue expanding into this field. This includes the recent acquisitions of majority stakes in Daedalic Entertainment GmbH and BookRix GmbH & Co. KG, although both transactions came after the reporting deadline in May 2014. Earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) also increased during the 2013/2014 fiscal year to 14.9 million euros (PY: 12.0 million euros). EBIT margins improved during the reporting period from 12.1 to 13.9%. 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). Annual profits grew during the reporting period by 14.5% to 9.1 million euros (PY: 7.9 million euros). Based on the current number of stocks in circulation (13.3 million), results per share during the 2013/2014 fiscal year totalled 0.68 euros/share (PY: 0.60 euro/share). Total assets amounted to 108.1 million euro at the end of the 2013/14 fiscal year, up from 88.8 million euro on 31 March 2013. 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, Bastei Lübbe AG intends to pursue a sustainable dividend strategy. It calls for shareholders to share appropriately in the positive annual results. For this reason the executive board and supervisory board will recommend to the annual shareholders meeting on 17 September 2014 that a dividend of 0.28 euros/share be issued. Bastei Lübbe AG's year-end accounts for FY 2013/14 indicate a rise in net assets to 9.032,714 euros. Based on the 13,300,000 dividend-eligible shares, that represents an overall dividend payout of 3,724,000 euros. The remaining 5,308,714 euros will be carried forward onto new account. For the ongoing 2014/15 fiscal year, Bastei Lübbe is predicting moderate revenue growth and flat EBIT y/y. The media company's forecasts single out the 'Book' segment, and in particular digital products, as the major growth driver. 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. The executive board fundamentally expects continuing growth in the operational results going forward. The 2014/15 fiscal year will be a transitional year as Bastei Lübbe AG establishes itself as an international media house and pushes digital internationalisation. 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. 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, the board is predicting. 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. The complete annual report can be found on the internet at http://www.luebbe.de/Investor-Relations/_inve...erichte_de. 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 30.06.2014 DGAP's Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements, Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases. Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Language: English Company: Bastei Lübbe AG Schanzenstraße 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 Announcement DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------