• Strong performance in third quarter in the Segment Film, particularly thanks to the
    box office success of 'Fack Ju Göhte 2'
  • Segment Sports continues with operating growth from SPORT1 platforms
  • Group EBIT rises by EUR 13.6 million to EUR 24.6 million after nine months
  • Group earnings attributable to shareholders at EUR 3.9 million after three quarters
  • Earnings outlook for 2015 adjusted upwards for the second time; Group sales confirmed
Following a strong third quarter, the business development of Constantin Medien after nine months 2015 is above own expectations. The Segment Sports continued its positive operating trend from the first half-year period. The Segment Film generated excellent results, above all from 'Fack Ju Göhte 2', released in September, which in the meantime has attracted 7.4 million moviegoers to German theaters. As already announced on October 30, 2015, the Management Board has raised the target for Group earnings attributable to shareholders for the full-year 2015 - for the second time this year.

Key financial figures of the Group

  • Group sales amounted to EUR 329.0 million, which were below the corresponding prior year's figure as planned (9M 2014: EUR 361.6 million). This is essentially due to the fact that primarily national film releases were made during the first nine months of 2015; whereas in the same period last year, high revenues came from the global distribution of the film 'Pompeii'. Third quarter sales increased by 15.8 percent to EUR 133.3 million (Q3 2014: EUR 115.1 million).
  • Profit from operations (EBIT) significantly increased by EUR 13.6 million to EUR 24.6 million (9M 2014: EUR 11.0 million), to which all segments contributed. Expectations are still being exceeded by the Segment Sports and in the third quarter especially by the Segment Film. The third quarter EBIT more than doubled to EUR 14.8 million (Q3 2014: EUR 6.8 million).
  • The financial result from January to September stood at EUR -11.2 million following EUR -10.9 million in the same period last year. Thereby, negative currency effects were nearly offset through lower interest expenses.
  • The Group reported a net profit of EUR 8.6 million for the first nine months following a loss of EUR 3.9 million in the same period last year. Earnings attributable to shareholders of Constantin Medien AG turned around from EUR -8.0 million to the positive figure of EUR 3.9 million. Group net profit for the third quarter stood at EUR 8.7 million (Q3 2014: EUR 0.2 million).
Segment performance
  • In the Segment Sports with the umbrella brand SPORT1, the positive operating trend in coverage and market shares in the first half-year period also continued in the third quarter. The market share of the free-TV broadcaster rose to 1.6 percent in the target group of males aged 14 to 49 in the first nine months (9M 2014: 1.3 percent). In the mobile and video area, as well, the access figures still continued to develop very positively. From January to September, sales in the Segment Sports increased by 5.9 percent to EUR 111.6 million (9M 2014: EUR 105.4 million). Operating growth and also lower cost of materials and licenses led to a jump in the segment result from EUR 2.7 million to EUR 7.9 million.
  • In the Segment Film, nine-month sales of EUR 179.7 million were below the prior period's figure of EUR 223.6 million as planned (-19.6 percent). However, sales in the third quarter increased by 21.3 percent to EUR 82.6 million, which was substantially driven by the huge box office success of 'Fack Ju Göhte 2', which had recorded almost 5.5 million viewers already by the end of September. The segment result for the first nine months increased to EUR 8.8 million (9M 2014: EUR 6.0 million). At EUR 9.2 million, the segment result for the third quarter was significantly above the prior year and above expectations (Q3 2014: EUR 4.1 million).
  • In the Segment Sports- and Event-Marketing, nine-month sales of EUR 35.1 million (9M 2014: EUR 30.4 million) were above the prior period's level by 15.5 percent. The Segment result increased to EUR 13.5 million after EUR 11.2 million in the same period last year. As planned, sales in the third quarter rose by 40.6 percent to EUR 14.2 million (Q3 2014: EUR 10.1 million). The increase in sales led to a segment result of EUR 5.6 million in the third quarter (Q3 2014: EUR 4.0 million).
  • In the first nine months of 2015, sales in the Segment Other Business Activities increased from EUR 2.2 million to EUR 2.6 million and the segment result improved from EUR -1.4 million to EUR -0.7 million.
  • The net result of the Others division (which includes the holding costs) improved to EUR -4.9 million (9M 2014: EUR -7.5 million). The prior period included high costs for the so-called Formula One proceedings.

Bernhard Burgener, CEO of Constantin Medien AG: 'After the first nine months and the business development in the fourth quarter to date, we are certain that Constantin Medien will report a successful financial year 2015 with a significantly improved result of operations. The further raising of our earnings outlook demonstrates that we are progressing in being sustainably in the black faster than planned.'

Outlook for the full-year 2015
Based on unchanged currency conditions, the Management Board is still anticipating Group sales of between EUR 450 million and EUR 490 million for the full year 2015. Based on the revised forecast at the end of October, he is now expecting earnings attributable to shareholders in a range of between EUR 4 million and EUR 6 million (previously: EUR 2 million to EUR 4 million).

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

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