Bastei Lübbe AG: Unplanned write-down at subsidiary oolipo AG burdens the result in the second quarter

Press Release

Bastei Lübbe AG: Unplanned write-down at subsidiary oolipo AG burdens the result in the second quarter

Cologne, 7 November 2017. Bastei Lübbe AG (ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) announces that - oolipo - the streaming platform for reading content, developed with considerable financial efforts, has far from reached the expected and necessary user numbers until the present day. At the same time, the search for new investors to drive forward the needed further development of the platform has been unsuccessful up to now. Upon agreement with the Supervisory Board, the Management Board of Bastei Lübbe AG, therefore, decided not to invest any further funds into the project and to undertake an unscheduled write-down.

The non-cash write-down on the intangible assets of its subsidiary oolipo AG will extraordinarily impact the consolidated EBIT of the Group in the second quarter of the current financial year in the amount of approximately EUR 3 million. Over the next months, the Management Board will consider the possibility of differently using or exploiting the developed technology.

The Management Board team of Bastei Lübbe AG, led by CEO Carel Halff, will consider the strategic direction of the Group in detail over the coming months, focusing on operational opportunities and risks, and adapt or refine the business strategy in close agreement with the Supervisory Board.

About Bastei Lübbe AG:

Bastei Lübbe AG is an internationally active media group with headquarters in Cologne. Its business activities primarily focus on the development and licencing of contents which are sold worldwide in physical and digital formats. The core business of the company in the book segment covers classic publishing and periodically published puzzle magazines and novels. With its total of twelve publishing houses and imprints, the company group currently offers around 3,600 titles in the areas of fiction, non-fiction as well as books for children and young adults. In the growing segment of hardcover fiction books, the company has been the market leader in Germany for many years. At the same time, Bastei Lübbe is an engine for innovation in the area of digital media. Apart from the production of thousands of audio and ebooks, the "digital" business unit also maintains participations in the self-publishing platform "BookRix" and the renowned game publisher "Daedalic Entertainment". The digital value-added chain of Bastei Lübbe AG is rounded off through its participation in the online shop "beam-ebooks.de".

With annual sales of approx. 146.3 million euros (financial year 2016/2017), Bastei Lübbe AG is the largest medium-sized family-run publishing business in Germany. The shares of the company have been listed in the Prime Standard segment on the Frankfurt stock exchange (GSIN A1X3YY, ISIN DE000A1X3YY0) since 2013. Further information is available at www.luebbe.de.

Contact Bastei Lübbe AG:
Barbara Fischer
Head of Press and Public Relations
Tel.: 0221 / 82 00 28 50
E-Mail: barbara.fischer@luebbe.de