Bastei Lübbe AG pays 16 cents dividend per share and sets the mood for further growth

Bastei Lübbe AG pays 16 cents dividend per share and sets the mood for further growth
 

• Bastei Lübbe AG Annual General Meeting approves dividend of €0.16 per share
• Election of the Supervisory Board: Dr. Ralph Drouven and Dr. Melanie Bockemühl newly elected to the Supervisory Board
• Digital businesses and community models drive sales growth despite difficult market environment

Cologne, 14 September 2023. The Cologne-based general-interest publisher Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) held its Annual General Meeting yesterday in the presence of shareholders. Near the headquarters of the traditional company, which was founded 70 years ago, the shareholders followed the explanations of the Supervisory Board and the Executive Board on the past fiscal year 2022/2023 and the outlook for the company's future development. Despite a challenging market environment, the publishing group was able to increase its sales to €100 million in fiscal year 2022/2023, with a solid operating EBIT margin before non-recurring items of 9.9 percent. Among other things, the explanations highlighted the outstanding development of the publishing brand LYX, which exemplifies the appeal of the community business, and the broad positioning of the Group's portfolio across numerous topics, target groups, and channels.

"The business development of the past year confirms our growth strategy and our success with our digital portfolio and our community-driven business models. We are resilient and perform well at the same time and were able to grow further under more difficult conditions. Our goal is to maintain this growth path with consistently high profitability," explained CEO Soheil Dastyari in his speech.

"Communities are constantly demanding a more holistic approach. For us as a publisher, this creates new opportunities to expand our business fields and to grow into surrounding business models and competencies. For example, we have only recently expanded our portfolio to include content to commerce offerings and will gradually expand these in line with the needs of our communities.

Mathis Gerkensmeyer also introduced himself to the participating shareholders as a new member of the Executive Board during the Annual General Meeting. Mathis Gerkensmeyer has been Chief Financial Officer of Bastei Lübbe AG since September 1, 2023 and is responsible for Accounting & Controlling, Group Accounting, IT, Production, Contract Management & Legal.

The Annual General Meeting approved the actions of the executive bodies by a large majority and resolved to pay a dividend per share of €0.16 for fiscal 2022/2023. The total dividend corresponds to a total payout of €2,112,016.00. This corresponds to a payout ratio of 48 percent of distributable earnings, which is at the upper end of the communicated range (40 to 50 percent payout ratio). Based on the closing price of €5.05 on September 12, 2023, this results in a dividend yield of 3.17 percent.

In addition, the election of the new Supervisory Board was on the agenda. Carsten Dentler, who has been Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Bastei Lübbe AG since the last fiscal year, was re-elected to the Supervisory Board and confirmed in his office as Chairman of the Supervisory Board in the constituent meeting following the ordinary Annual General Meeting. Dr. Ralph Drouven and Dr. Melanie Bockemühl were also newly elected to the Board. All three Supervisory Board members were elected to the Board until the end of the Annual General Meeting which resolves on the approval of their actions for the 2027/2028 fiscal year.

The Executive Board was optimistic about the further course of the current financial year and confirmed the sales and earnings forecast.

At the time of the vote, a total of 78.5 percent of the share capital with a quorum was represented. The detailed voting results and the presentation by the Management Board can be found at: https://bastei-luebbe.de/en/company/investor-relations/general-meeting

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 fifteen 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.

With annual revenues of around €100 million (2022/2023 financial year), 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.bastei-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