Bastei Lübbe AG: Bastei Lübbe AG Sees Strong Growth in Revenues and EBIT for 2013/2014

Bastei Lübbe AG  / Key word(s): Final Results30.06.2014 08:18Dissemination of an Ad hoc announcement according to § 15 WpHG, transmittedby 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 2013/2014Fiscal 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 meetingCologne, 30 June 2014. Bastei Lübbe AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange/PrimeStandard listing code ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) has posted revenue and earningsgrowth on a broad basis for the 2013/2014 fiscal year. Revenues grew duringthe reporting period by 9.4 percent to 107.5 million euros (PY: 98.3million euros).The positive revenue trends extended across all three segments of thecompany's business. The strong-performing 'Book' segment rose by 8.4% to85.8 million euros (previous year: 79.1 million euros). The "SerialisedNovels/Puzzle Magazines" and "Non-Book" saw even higher growth, withrevenues increasing by 18.4% (to 10.2 million euros) and 9.0 percent (to11.5 million euros) respectively. The fiscal year also saw Bastei Lübbe AGcontinue its dynamic growth in the area of electronic media, one of thegreatest pillars of growth for the entire media group. Digital revenuesrose 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 inthe "Book" segment (PY: 11.3%). When digital audio revenues are included,digital's share of overall revenues totals more than 14%. Bastei Lübbeplans to continue expanding into this field. This includes the recentacquisitions of majority stakes in Daedalic Entertainment GmbH and BookRixGmbH & Co. KG, although both transactions came after the reporting deadlinein May 2014.Earnings before Interest and Taxes (EBIT) also increased during the2013/2014 fiscal year to 14.9 million euros (PY: 12.0 million euros). EBITmargins 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 (by5.5%, to 1.1 million euro), while the "Non-Book" segment reported losses of0.8 million euros (after gains of 1.1 million euros a year ago). Annualprofits 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 totalled0.68 euros/share (PY: 0.60 euro/share).Total assets amounted to 108.1 million euro at the end of the 2013/14fiscal year, up from 88.8 million euro on 31 March 2013. The growthprimarily reflects the capital increase achieved through the publicoffering from October 2013. As at 31 March 2014, equity capital hadincreased from 26.8 million to 52.1 million euros y/y. As such, equitycapital now represents 48.1% of net assets (up from 30.2%). The operativecash 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 asustainable dividend strategy. It calls for shareholders to shareappropriately in the positive annual results. For this reason the executiveboard and supervisory board will recommend to the annual shareholdersmeeting 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 netassets to 9.032,714 euros. Based on the 13,300,000 dividend-eligibleshares, that represents an overall dividend payout of 3,724,000 euros. Theremaining 5,308,714 euros will be carried forward onto new account.For the ongoing 2014/15 fiscal year, Bastei Lübbe is predicting moderaterevenue growth and flat EBIT y/y. The media company's forecasts single outthe 'Book' segment, and in particular digital products, as the major growthdriver. Greater stability is expected for the Serialised Novel and PuzzleMagazine divisions, while slight growth is forecast for the 'Non-Book'segment. Foreign revenues, especially from planned joint ventures in Chinaand the USA, are not expected to impact results until the 2015/16 fiscalyear. The resulting start-up costs will however be counted against theongoing fiscal year.The executive board fundamentally expects continuing growth in theoperational results going forward. The 2014/15 fiscal year will be atransitional year as Bastei Lübbe AG establishes itself as an internationalmedia house and pushes digital internationalisation. First quarter revenueand profits are expected to fall short of their y/y levels. The firstquarter of 2013/14 saw tremendous revenue and profits from the best-seller'Inferno' from Dan Brown, published in May 2013. That one book alone rangin roughly nine million euros in sales -- but Bastei Lübbe AG does not havea comparable best-seller in the pipeline for Q1 2014/2015. The lowerrevenues from the first quarter will be more than recovered over the courseof the entire 2014/15 reporting year through the expected revenue boosts inthe second and third quarters, the board is predicting. This includes forexample a significant bump in sales and profits from a new book frombest-selling author Ken Follett to be published in Q2 2014/15.The complete annual report can be found on the internet athttp://www.luebbe.de/Investor-Relations/_investor_finanzberichte_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 publishesbooks, audio books, ebooks and digital products in both the literary andpopular science genres, as well as serialised novels and puzzle magazines.Bastei Lübbe is also actively involved in brand licensing and thedevelopment, production and distribution of gift, decoration andmerchandising articles. Bastei Lübbe has for many years enjoyed an almostunbroken streak as the market leader in the growing segment of hard-coverliterature; in 2013 its literary ebooks division was also ranked number oneon the market. 2013 saw the company's 60th anniversary celebration and itslaunch as a publicly traded company. Shares of Bastei Lübbe AG are listedin the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN A1X3YY,ISIN DE000A1X3YY0).Contact for Bastei Lübbe AG:Barbara FischerDirector of PR and Event MarketingTel. :+49 (0) 221 / 82 00 28 50E-Mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe. de30.06.2014 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:     EnglishCompany:      Bastei Lübbe AG              Schanzenstraße 6 - 20              51063 Köln              GermanyPhone:        02 21 / 82 00 - 0Fax:          02 21 / 82 00 - 1900E-mail:       investorrelations@luebbe.deInternet:     www.luebbe.deISIN:         DE000A1X3YY0, DE000A1K0169WKN:          A1X3YY, A1K016Listed:       Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard); Freiverkehr              in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover, Stuttgart End of Announcement                             DGAP News-Service ---------------------------------------------------------------------------