Bastei Lübbe AG: Dividend almost doubled to 30 cents per share and positive financial outlook confirmed
 

• Annual General Meeting of Bastei Lübbe AG resolves upon dividend of EUR 0.30 per share
• Digital business and community models drive revenue growth
• Portfolio optimizations generate further growth potential

Cologne, 12 September 2024. Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0), a general-interest publisher held its Annual General Meeting in presence yesterday. As usual, shareholders followed the explanations provided by the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board on the past financial year 2023/2024 and the outlook for the company's future development. In a macroeconomic environment characterized by inflation and consumer restraint, the publishing group succeeded in increasing revenue to more than EUR 110 million while significantly improving the EBIT margin to 12.7 percent. In its comments, the Executive Board emphasized the continuing success story of the community-driven business models, which have not only increased their share of revenue but also their reach and engagement rates. The community principle also results in direct-to-commerce potential, which Bastei Lübbe is successfully tapping into with store start-ups and expansions. Thanks to the portfolio optimization, Bastei Lübbe is not only growing with communities but also across the entire breadth of its offering, thus clearly setting itself apart from the market as a whole.

“I am particularly pleased that our growth is based on the literally broad foundation. Almost all publishing divisions have developed positively. In particular, however, our strategic foresight and innovative spirit are paying off. As a result, we are succeeding in sustainably developing our growth areas,” explained CEO Soheil Dastyari in his speech and elaborated further: “For example, we are consistently focusing on growth with community-driven models and have just launched our fourth imprint for another specific community. ‘pola’ stands for books that give visibility to the realities of young women's lives and present them for internal discussion within the framework of their stories, sometimes entertaining, sometimes thoughtful. The foundation for another great success story.”

CFO Mathis Gerkensmeyer added: “In line with our strategic direction, not only have we made significant progress in terms of revenue but we have also managed to grow even more strongly on a broad basis in terms of profitability throughout the company. As such, we can operate from a position of financial strength. This proves that we are much more successful than before in pursuing a diversified business strategy.”

The Annual General Meeting approved the actions of the corporate bodies by a large majority and resolved to distribute a dividend of EUR 0.30 per share for the 2023/2024 financial year. With a total distribution of EUR 3,960,030.00, the total dividend corresponds to a payout ratio of 45 percent of distributable earnings, which is therefore in the middle of the defined dividend strategy (40 to 50 percent payout ratio). Based on the closing price of EUR 9.45 on 10 September 2024, this results in a dividend yield of 3.2 percent.

The Executive Board expressed optimism for the further course of the current financial year and confirmed its revenue and profit forecast.

At the time of the vote, the proportion of share capital entitled to vote was 81.66 percent. The detailed voting results and the presentation by the Executive Board are available at: https://bastei-luebbe.de/en/company/investor-relations/general-meeting.

About Bastei Lübbe AG:

Bastei Lübbe AG is the leading independent publishing group in Germany. The company, based in Cologne, focuses on the publication of books, audiobooks, and eBooks with high-quality popular entertainment, as well as periodically released serialized novels. The company comprises fifteen publishing brands in total. Bastei Lübbe positions itself as an innovation driver in the industry and has successfully established several rapidly growing community-driven business models. In the field of digital media, Bastei Lübbe AG is also a pioneer, producing thousands of audio and eBooks that are distributed through all digital channels. The AG generates annual revenue of over 110 million euros (financial year 2023/2024). Since 2013, the company's shares have been listed on the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (GSIN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0). Further information is available at https://bastei-luebbe.de/en.

Contact Bastei Lübbe AG:

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