• Group sales increased by 31.2 percent to EUR 136.1 million
  • Result of operations impacted by impairments in the Film Segment and by non-recurring charges
  • Profit from operations (EBIT) at EUR -2.3 million with earnings attributable to shareholders at EUR -5.5 million
  • Financial targets for FY 2014 adjusted due to non-execution of the intended transaction with Sky Deutschland

The Constantin Medien Group closed the first quarter 2014 with significantly higher sales. However, the result of operations was impacted by higher impairments in the film business and by non-recurring charges.

Group performance first quarter 2014:
  • Group sales increased from EUR 103.7 million in the same period last year by 31.2 percent to EUR 136.1 million for the period from January to March 2014. The high increase relates to the Film Segment.

  • At EUR -2.3 million, profit from operations (EBIT) was behind the prior year's figure of EUR +1.8 million. This was affected by higher impairments on film assets as well as non-recurring charges for the so-called Formula One proceedings of Constantin Medien AG in London.

  • Group net profit in the first quarter 2014 amounted to EUR -5.0 million following EUR +0.5 million in the same quarter last year. The earnings attributable to shareholders included therein totaled EUR -5.5 million after EUR -0.5 million in the comparative quarter last year.

Segment performance first quarter 2014
  • At EUR 33.4 million, sales reported by the Sports Segment for the first three months 2014 were 10.0 percent behind the corresponding prior period's figure of EUR 37.1 million. Both market share and coverage were increased further in the TV and cumulatively in the online and mobile area. The sales increase arising therefrom for SPORT1 however could not offset, as expected, the loss of the production of the former Bundesliga channel LIGA total!. The segment result dropped in the three-month period to EUR 1.2 million (Q1 2013: EUR 1.6 million). In addition to the sales decline, this was impacted by higher cost of materials arising from the digitization strategy of the sports business.

  • Sales of the first quarter 2014 in the Film Segment increased by 65.1 percent to EUR 92.1 million (Q1 2013: EUR 55.8 million). In particular, theatrical distribution and license trading reported significantly higher sales than in the first quarter of the preceding year due to the global distribution of the movie "Pompeii". An adverse effect came from the impairment on film assets, especially for the movie "Tarzan". In total, impairment on film assets rose by EUR 5.8 million to EUR 7.3 million in the first quarter 2014. Thus, the segment result of EUR -2.6 million was below the prior period's figure (EUR -1.8 million).

  • The Sports- and Event-Marketing Segment delivered a continuously successful performance in the first quarter. At EUR 10.1 million, sales were in line with the same period last year (Q1 2013: EUR 10.1 million). The segment result improved by EUR 0.5 million to EUR 3.9 million as a consequence of cost savings.

  • The Other Business Activities Segment reached Q1 sales of EUR 0.5 million (Q1 2013: EUR 0.7 million) as well as a segment result of EUR -0.5 million (Q1 2013: EUR -0.4 million). The segment loss was attributable to the online/social gaming area.

  • The earnings decline of the Others division from EUR -1.0 million to EUR -4.2 million particularly relates to non-recurring charges in the amount of EUR 3.0 million, which are carried by Constantin Medien AG in connection with the so-called Formula One proceedings.

Bernhard Burgener, CEO of Constantin Medien AG: "In total, the operating business of our Group was in line with our expectations for the first quarter 2014. The pleasing coverage and market share growth experienced in the Sports Segment indicate that the ongoing expansion of our sports content and live-reporting as well as the further digitization of our sports business are starting to bear fruit. With the Constantin Film group's productions "Fack ju Göhte" and "Fünf Freunde 3", the Film Segment succeeded in placing two movies in the Top Ten of the German film charts in the first quarter. The Sports- and Event-Marketing Segment continued to stay on a successful course in the first quarter."

Outlook for the full year 2014
As announced on May 19, 2014, Constantin Medien AG stopped negotiations with Sky Deutschland Fernsehen GmbH & Co. KG regarding the transaction agreed on December 5, 2013. This provided the complete sale of the production subsidiary PLAZAMEDIA GmbH TV- und Film-Produktion (including its subsidiaries in Austria and Switzerland) and the sale of 25.1 percent each of the shares in Sport1 GmbH and Constantin Sport Marketing GmbH to Sky. The transaction was, among others, subject to the conclusion of a new production framework contract between Sport1 GmbH and PLAZAMEDIA. But no agreement has been reached on this arrangement.

As also announced on May 19, 2014, the Management Board had to adjust the financial targets for the financial year 2014 due to this development: the Management Board now assumes Group sales of between EUR 460 million and EUR 500 million (previously: EUR 420 million and EUR 460 million) and Group earnings attributable to shareholders of between EUR -13 million and EUR -15 million (previously: EUR +13 million and EUR +15 million).

Please find the results for the Constantin Medien Group at a glance in the attached Pdf document .

Contact:
Constantin Medien AG
Sabine Lais
Director Communication   
Phone: +49 (0) 89 99 500 461
Fax: +49 (0) 89 99 500 466
sabine.lais@constantin-medien.de
 Frank Elsner Kommunikation für
Unternehmen GmbH
Frank Elsner
Tel.: +49 (0) 54 04 91 92 0
Fax: +49 (0) 54 04 91 92 29
info@elsner-kommunikation.de


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