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May 9 – May 15, 2011 Edition Bertelsmann Profits Up in First Quarter
Gütersloh/AUTHORLINK NEWS/May 12, 2011– The international media company Bertelsmann, which owns Random House in the US, began the 2011 fiscal year with higher revenues and a distinct increase in Group profit. First-quarter consolidated revenues from continuing operations grew to 3.63 billion (previous year: 3.56 billion).
Nearly all divisions contributed to this increase. At 245 million, Operating EBIT did not quite reach the previous years record figure of 293 million, partly due to start-up and program investments, as well as seasonal effects (the Easter ad sales business took place after the first quarter this year). Concurrently, Group profit more than doubled to 94 million (previous year: 45 million), thanks to a considerably improved financial result. The latter reflects lower interest charges in the wake of successful debt reduction, and the discontinuation of negative income effects from the buyback of profit participation certificates in Q1 2010.
The Group further paid down its debt during the period under review. At March 31, 2011, net financial debt was 1,741 million (December 31, 2010: 1,913 million). Economic debt amounted to 4,591 million (December 31, 2010: 4,915 million).
Bertelsmann is an international media company encompassing television (RTL Group), book publishing (Random House), magazine publishing (Gruner + Jahr), media services (Arvato), and media clubs(Direct Group) in more than 50 countries.
