Bastei Lubbe AG, a leading German publishing group, has started its 2026/2027 financial year with continued revenue growth, reporting Group revenues of EUR 24.6 million for the first quarter (April to June 2026), up from EUR 23.0 million in the prior year. Despite persistently muted conditions in the German book market, the company achieved a Group EBIT of EUR 1.1 million, translating into an EBIT margin of 4.4%. The results reflect a solid performance, particularly in the classic book formats, and confirm the full-year forecast.
Soheil Dastyari, CEO of Bastei Lubbe AG, commented: “Once again, we were able to boost our revenues and also make significant progress in terms of profitability compared to the previous quarter. We will be systematically continuing on this trajectory as the year progresses.” The revenue performance in the first quarter was bolstered by top releases under both new and established imprints. Notably, the new “Pfaueninsel” imprint and the classic “Lübbe” imprint performed well, with the SPIEGEL bestseller “Traume aus Feuer” by Florian Illies achieving top-ten rankings and repeatedly reaching the top spot. Lucy Astner’s novel “Kein Sommer ohne August” also remained a fixture on the SPIEGEL bestseller list, while the strong paperback edition of Ken Follett’s “The Armour of Light” and Eva Almstadt’s crime thriller “Akte Nordsee – Die letzte Predigt” contributed to the imprint’s success.
The “Book” segment generated revenues of EUR 22.9 million, up from EUR 21.4 million in the previous year, but segment EBIT declined slightly to EUR 1.0 million from EUR 1.2 million. In the “Novel Booklets” segment, revenues rose slightly to EUR 1.7 million, with segment EBIT improving to EUR 0.1 million. The company also noted a shift in its revenue mix: the share of community-driven business models contracted to 24% in the first quarter, down from 31% a year earlier, while digital products accounted for 35% of revenues, down from 38%.
Earnings were impacted by higher costs. Cost of materials increased to EUR 12.4 million from EUR 10.6 million, primarily due to higher printing costs ahead of new releases. Personnel expenses rose to EUR 6.1 million from EUR 5.7 million, reflecting scheduled salary adjustments and the filling of vacant positions. Consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) came to EUR 1.0 million, down from EUR 1.2 million, and net profit attributable to shareholders was EUR 0.7 million, resulting in earnings per share of EUR 0.05.
As of 30 June 2026, total Group assets stood at EUR 107.2 million, slightly down from EUR 109.0 million at the end of March 2026. Equity attributable to shareholders increased to EUR 66.4 million. The balance sheet structure remained largely stable.
The Executive Board confirmed its full-year forecast for 2026/2027, expecting revenues in the range of EUR 118–122 million and EBIT of EUR 10.0–12.0 million. The company noted that profitability has improved noticeably since the fourth quarter of 2025/2026 and is approaching the target. The interim statement for the first three months is available at www.bastei-luebbe.de.
