EQS-News

Bastei Lübbe confirms higher forecast with strong nine-month figures - Seite 2

Consequently, revenues in the “Book” segment increased by 15.9 percent to €78.7 million (previous year: €67.9 million). Other revenue drivers were the steadily widening share of community-driven business models in the New and Young Adult segment with its loyal readership as well as digital audio products. With its range targeted at young adults, the LYX imprint continued to perform very well, growing by 21.2 percent over the previous year, while the audio segment posted an increase of 10.8 percent. New releases by Mona Kasten (“Fallen Princess”) and Hannah Grace (“Icebreaker”) were particular highlights at LYX. The Community Editions imprint, which specialises in publications by social media artists, also made a positive contribution to growth with the successful launch of the “humble but bold” online D2C shop. The cumulative share of revenues contributed by the community-driven business models reached 35 percent in the first nine months of the 2023/2024 financial year.

The “Novel Booklets” segment generated revenues of €5.6 million in the nine-month period, up from €5.3 million in the previous year. The lower volume sales in wholesale press business were offset by price increases and the expansion of subscription and digital business. In addition, catalogue and sales initiatives to mark the publisher’s anniversary had a positive impact.

Group EBIT rose significantly to €11.7 million in the first nine months of 2023/2024, up from €4.8 million in the previous year, while the EBIT margin also widened to 13.9 percent (previous year: 6.6 percent). This is particularly due to the substantially higher revenues compared to the previous year. EBIT in the “Book” segment rose from €4.6 million in the previous year to €11.0 million in the period under review. At €0.7 million in the period under review, EBIT from the “Novel Booklets” segment was also up on the previous year (€0.2 million). In addition to the higher revenues, this was also due to lower paper and printing costs. Group earnings before taxes (EBT) amounted to €11.2 million in the first nine months of 2023/2024 (previous year: €4.6 million). Consolidated net profit for the period reached €9.5 million (previous year: €2.6 million). Accordingly, earnings per share rose significantly to €0.72, up from €0.19 in the previous year.