Bastei Lübbe continuing on its growth trajectory

Bastei Lübbe continuing on its growth trajectory

• Successful start to the new fiscal year
• EBIT of EUR 2.0 million generated on higher revenues of EUR 19.2 million
• Increase in profitability: EBIT margin widened from 8.5% to 10.6% in Q1
• Full-year forecast confirmed
• Acquisition of the remaining 60% of CE Community Editions GmbH in July 2021

Cologne, 12 August 2021 - The listed company Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) today published its results for the first quarter of fiscal year 2021/2022. The group achieved revenues of EUR 19.2 million in the period from 1 April to 30 June 2021 (previous year: EUR 18.5 million), marking an increase of EUR 0.7 million. Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) climbed to EUR 2.0 million, up from EUR 1.6 million in the same period in the previous year. The EBIT margin widened to 10.6% (previous year: 8.5%) thanks to improved cost structures.

After interest and income taxes, the Bastei Lübbe Group posted net profit of EUR 1.3 million for the period (previous year: EUR 1.6 million). The previous year's earnings had included EUR 0.6 million from discontinued operations. This translates in earnings per share of EUR 0.10 for the first quarter of 2021/22, compared to EUR 0.09 in the previous year.

"We are continuing to benefit from the strong appeal of our programme and our broad positioning across different channels in the book market", says Joachim Herbst, Speaker of the Executive Board at Bastei Lübbe, explaining the company's favourable performance. "We are reaching different target groups in the book market again in the new fiscal year. For this reason, we are very pleased to be able to additionally expand our activities with reader communities through the full acquisition of CE Community Editions GmbH in July 2021. At Community Editions, there is also a particularly close connection between the influencer-authors and the readers they address."

Growth in both segments

The publishing group's revenues were driven by the "Book" segment in the first quarter of the fiscal year, with revenues coming to EUR 17.3 million, thus exceeding the previous year (EUR 16.7 million) by EUR 0.6 million. The audio segment in particular was able to post a significant improvement of EUR 1.0 million over the same quarter of the previous year. Segment EBIT climbed from EUR 1.3 million in the previous year to EUR 1.7 million in the period under review.

Jeff Kinney made it onto the Spiegel bestseller list for children's and young people's novels twice with "Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Spooky Stories" and Volume 15 of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid". The new LYX release "Eastern Lights" by Brittainy C. Cherry also climbed up the Spiegel Top 10 bestseller list immediately.

Revenues in the "Novel Booklets" segment rose slightly to EUR 1.9 million in the first quarter, up from EUR 1.8 million in the previous year. The segment EBIT of EUR 0.3 million in the period in review was unchanged over the previous year (EUR 0.3 million).

Significant increase in net financial assets

As of 30 June 2021, net financial assets were valued at EUR 12.1 million, up EUR 2.4 million on 31 March 2021 (EUR 9.7 million). The company thus continues to have a positive balance of cash and cash equivalents and loan liabilities.

Closer to the reader with community offers

With the acquisition of Community Editions and smarticular, Bastei Lübbe is expanding its activities in innovative publishing and community models. Community Editions primarily features influencer-authors writing on topics such as gaming, lifestyle, beauty and do-it-yourself as well as cooking and nutrition. smarticular's publications support social transformation away from mass consumption and a throwaway society in favour of the conscious use of resources and mindfulness in all matters relating to the environment.

"With the structural adaptability that allowed Bastei Lübbe to successfully navigate the pandemic in the crisis year of 2020, we are very confident with regard to fiscal year 2021/22," Herbst continued. "Our autumn and winter programme includes attractive new releases as well as the proven bestselling authors Ken Follett and Dirk Rossmann."

Attractive programme; forecast confirmed

The company is therefore confident about its revenue performance in the coming months. On 18 October, "Der Zorn des Oktopus", the second environmental thriller by entrepreneur and bestselling author Dirk Rossmann, is being released. In addition, Ken Follett's new novel will be celebrating its worldwide premiere on 9 November. He has an exciting surprise in store for his millions of readers around the globe because, after a series of historical world bestsellers, Ken Follett returns to his roots with the spectacular thriller "Never", which is set in the present. He achieved his breakthrough as an author in 1978 with his thriller "Eye of the Needle", which laid the foundations for his later worldwide successes.

Bastei Lübbe confirms the forecast issued in July 2021 and continues to expect revenues of between EUR 90 and 95 million and EBIT of between EUR 11 and 12 million for fiscal year 2021/2022. This assumes the absence of any further severe restrictions as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

Bastei Lübbe AG's Quarterly Statement Q1/2021 is available on the Internet at https://www.luebbe.com/en/investor-relations/financial-reports/quarterly-reports.

About Bastei Lübbe AG:

Bastei Lübbe AG is a German general-interest publisher based in Cologne, specialising in the publication of books, audio books and e-books featuring fiction and popular science content. The company's core business also includes the periodically published novel booklets. With a total of sixteen imprints, the group currently offers several thousand titles in the fields of fiction, non-fiction and children's and young people's books. In the growing segment of hardcover fiction, the company has been one of the market leaders in Germany for many years. At the same time, Bastei Lübbe is a driver of innovation in digital media and exploitation channels through the production of thousands of audio and e-books among other things.

The Bastei Lübbe Group reported revenues of around EUR 93 million in fiscal year 2020/2021. Bastei Lübbe AG is one of the largest medium-sized companies in the German publishing industry. Its shares have been listed in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (WKN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) since 2013. Further information can be found at www.luebbe.de.

Contact Bastei Lübbe AG:

Barbara Fischer
Head of Press and Public Relations
Phone: +49 (0)221 8200 2850
E-Mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe.de