• Group EBIT in Q2 at EUR 7.1 million
  • Group sales in Q2 increase to EUR 110.3 million
  • Business development in line with expectations
  • Financial targets for the full year 2014 unchanged

Constantin Medien Group achieved a significant improvement in the earnings position in the second quarter of this year, both, against the corresponding quarter in the previous year and versus the first quarter 2014. Overall, the business development of the media company in the first half-year was in line with own expectations.

Group performance second quarter 2014:
  • Group sales reached EUR 110.3 million for the period from April to June, an increase of 14.9 percent compared to the prior year quarter (EUR 96.0 million).

  • Profit from operations (EBIT) significantly increased from EUR -0.3 million in the same quarter of the previous year to EUR 7.1 million. This was attributable to a notable improvement in earnings in the Segments Sports, Film as well as Sports- and Event-Marketing.

  • Group net profit (earnings after taxes) in the second quarter amounted to EUR 1.4 million after a Group net loss of EUR 3.2 million in Q2 2013. The earnings attributable to shareholders included therein amounted to EUR -0.3 million, almost balanced after EUR -4.0 million in the same period 2013.

Group performance first half-year 2014:

  • Group sales in the first half-year stood at EUR 246.5 million, 23.4 percent above the previous year's value (EUR 199.7 million). The sales increase particularly relates to the Segment Film, which recorded high revenues from exploiting films in the areas theatrical distribution and license trading.

  • Profit from operations (EBIT) in the first six months at EUR 4.1 million was above the previous year's level of EUR 1.5 million. Thereby, improvements in earnings in the Segments Sports, Film as well as Sports- and Event-Marketing faced significantly higher expenses, resulting from Constantin Medien AG as the parent and holding company.

  • The financial result reached EUR -5.8 million and was below the prior year's figure (EUR -4.6 million), primarily due to higher expenses for the corporate bond 2013/2018 issued in April 2013.

  • The Group reported tax expenses of EUR 2.5 million after a positive tax result of EUR 0.5 million in the first half-year 2013.

  • Based on these influences, net profit of the Group in the first half-year reached EUR -4.1 million (1. HY 2013: EUR -2.7 million). Earnings attributable to shareholders included therein amounted to EUR -6.4 million (1. HY 2013: EUR -4.6 million).

Segment performance
  • The Segment Sports showed a positive business development in the first six months. Segment sales stood at EUR 69.5 million, although 4.3 percent below the corresponding previous year's level (EUR 72.6 million). Adjusted for the loss of the production of LIGA total!, which was still included in the previous year, however, the Segment recorded a sales increase. The positive trend in the free-TV market shares was continued in spite of the 2014 FIFA World CupTM. Regarding the digital platforms of SPORT1, above all, the mobile area showed considerable growth in visits and page impressions. The segment result improved to EUR 2.4 million (1. HY 2013: EUR -1.0 million).

  • The Segment Film recorded sales of EUR 155.5 million in the first six months 2014, a plus of 46.3 percent compared to the previous year's period (EUR 106.3 million). In particular the areas theatrical distribution and license trading were able to achieve higher revenues due to the global distribution of the film title "Pompeii". At the same time these sales were set off against high amortization of the capitalized production costs. In Home Entertainment, above all, the releases of "Fack ju Göhte" and "The Mortal Instruments - City of Bones" provided positive stimuli. The blockbuster "Fack ju Göhte" also developed very successfully in digital marketing. The segment result improved from EUR -0.1 million to EUR 1.9 million in the first six months.

  • The Segment Sports- and Event-Marketing increased half-year sales by 4.1 percent to EUR 20.3 million (1. HY 2013: EUR 19.5 million). The segment result disproportionately improved by 22.0 percent to EUR 7.2 million (1. HY 2013: EUR 5.9 million), also due to a lower cost base.

  • The Segment Other Business Activities showed sales of EUR 1.1 million in the first half-year (1. HY 2013: EUR 1.2 million) and a segment result of EUR -1.2 million (1. HY 2013: EUR -1.1 million). The marketing of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and the Eurovision Song Contest again could be closed profitably. The segment loss was attributable to the online/social gaming area.

  • Earnings in the Others division (primarily including the holding costs) amounted to EUR  -6.3 million in the first half-year after EUR -2.3 million in the same period last year. Included therein are expenses of EUR 3.6 million incurred by Constantin Medien AG in connection with the so-called Formula 1 proceedings. 

Bernhard Burgener, CEO of Constantin Medien AG: "The first half-year met our expectations in operational terms. Pleasing progress was made in the Segment Sports: The SPORT1 platforms - whether free-TV, pay-TV, online, mobile, digital radio or social media - are successful in their markets and continue to grow. The strategic course, we are pursuing since almost two years in the sports business, is the right way."

Outlook for the full-year 2014
After the business development of the first half-year, the Management Board confirms its expectations for the full-year 2014: From today's perspective, he still assumes Group sales of between EUR 460 million and EUR 500 million. Considering the holding costs as well as financial expenses and taxes, the Management Board is still expecting Group earnings attributable to shareholders of between EUR -13 million an 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
Tel.: +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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