ots Ad hoc-Service: splendid medien AG <DE0007279507> Splendid Medien AG presents final figures for fiscal 1999
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Splendid Medien AG presents final figures for fiscal 1999
Considerable growth in all business divisions / Continual increase in yield and investments in high-calibre film projects
Splendid Medien AG of Cologne improved its turnover in fiscal 1999 by 30% to 37.7 million Deutschmarks compared with the previous year (29.0). Over the same period, the company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose by 17% to 23.2 (19.8) million Deutschmarks. The Cologne-based media company's earnings before interest and tax amounted to 5.3 (3.6) million Deutschmarks, representing an improvement of 47%. The DVFA result was 2.1 million Deutschmarks. Although it was necessary to take account of exceptional charges of 9.3 million Deutschmarks for going public, the annual surplus was still 1.0 million Deutschmarks.
The main source of income was the licensing division with 22.4 (21.6) million Deutschmarks, while the video/DVD division increased its turnover by 126% to 13.1 (5.8) million Deutschmarks. The synchronization division contributed 2.2 (1.6) million Deutschmarks to the results last fiscal year. With its share of 59%, licensing was the most important division in the Splendid Medien AG group last year, followed by the video/DVD division with a 35% share. The synchronization division, which was hived off from Splendid Film in June 1999, achieved a 6% share of turnover.
"These figures represent the fulfilment of our ambitious planned goals which we set at the time of the IPO. Last fiscal year's result is more than satisfactory and thanks to our large-scale investments we have created the basis for further growth in the future," explains Dietmar Schmitz, CFO of Splendid Medien AG. The high level of EBIT growth is above all due to the company's profitable film library. Films are generally fully amortized after the initial licence period, so that now, in the second exploitation phase, they make a large contribution to results, which in 1999 amounted to 2.5 million Deutschmarks.
With its equity ratio of 88% (total assets: 170.6 million Deutschmarks, ownership capital: 149.6 million Deutschmarks) the company's business is founded on a solid financial basis.
In the fiscal year just ended Splendid invested 93.1 million Deutschmarks (1998: 23.1) in high-calibre Hollywood films featuring star actors and top-line directors. In the forthcoming years Splendid expects to greatly increase turnover and yield, thanks to co-productions and co-financing deals with Disney/Miramax, USA Network and Jodie Foster's production company "Egg Pictures". Splendid/IEG hold at least the entire rights worldwide outside North America for these projects which means they will be able to exploit the projects' full global commercial potential. These projects include "Dr. T and the Women" by Robert Altman starring Richard Gere and the hitherto largest independent project of all time, "Gangs of New York" by director Martin Scorsese featuring "Titanic" star Leonardo DiCaprio in the leading role. Other projects negotiated during the present fiscal year are the thriller "Traffic" with Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michael Douglas and Dennis Quaid, for which filming has just begun. Then there is the romantic adventure film "Smoke and Mirrors", probably also starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, and the project "The Dangerous Lives of Altar-Boys", which Splendid is undertaking together with Academy award winner Jodie Foster. The joint venture deal agreed in January 2000 with Milkwood Films, Catherine Zeta-Jones's film production company, will also make a considerable contribution to profitability in future.
The company's auditing is done according to IAS regulations and the annual results will be published and explained by the board at a financial press conference in Düsseldorf on 18 April 2000.
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