DGAP-News

Bastei Lübbe AG reports further positive development in its core business

DGAP-News: Bastei Lübbe AG / Key word(s): 9 Month figures/Quarterly / Interim Statement Bastei Lübbe AG reports further positive development in its core business 11.02.2021 / 07:30 The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Bastei Lübbe AG reports further positive development in its core business

• Successful autumn publishing programme drives positive business development
• Sales increase to EUR 70.8 million
• EBIT rises by 108 percent to EUR 7.5 million
• Increased full-year forecast confirmed

Cologne, 11.02.2021. The trade publisher Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) today published its earnings for the first nine months of the 2020/2021 financial year. In the period from 1 April to 31 December 2020, the Group increased its consolidated sales by 13.9 percent to EUR 70.8 million (previous year: EUR 62.1 million) despite the difficult general conditions.This pleasing development resulted from the very good Christmas season with new releases from bestselling authors such as Ken Follett and Dirk Rossmann, as well as growing sales from eBooks and digital audio formats.

Consolidated earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) improved to EUR 7.5 million in the reporting period compared with EUR 3.6 million in the prior-year period. EBIT includes the non-recurring income from the legal settlement with the former executive bodies in the amount of EUR 1.1 million. When comparing with the previous year, it should be noted that the previous period also included income from the disposal of the puzzle division in the amount of EUR 0.4 million outside normal business operations. The EBIT margin is 10.7% (previous year: 5.8%).

"The current figures support our strategy and our focus on inspiring content in both the print and digital formats. Despite a difficult environment for stationary sales channels, we were nevertheless able to successfully reach readers with our autumn publishing programme," says Joachim Herbst, Spokesman of the Executive Board of Bastei Lübbe. "Sales growth goes hand in hand with higher profitability, although the result also includes one-off effects."