Consolidated figures for the first half of the year

Revenues up in the first half, earnings better than expected, edel investing

Hamburg - edel AG has prepared its consolidated financial statements for the first half of its fiscal year (October 1, 2007 - March 30, 2008). Despite difficult market conditions, the end-to-end media service provider was able to boost its sales again. Adjusted for the sale of Swiss subsidiary Phonag in 2007, sales increased by a good ten percent to EUR 76.6 million (first half of 2006/2007 (adjusted): EUR 69.4 million). EBIT came to EUR 3.0 million. Adjusted for the proceeds from the reversal of provisions in the year-ago period, earnings came very close to the previous year’s level and thus beat the company’s forecast. This shows that the pressure on margins in core business has long since become a calculable parameter. Says Michael Haentjes, CEO of edel music AG: “Failure in this industry to anticipate price hikes and pressure by retailers to offer discounts can quickly have dire consequences. We always take account of such imponderabilities in our forecasts to ensure that we are able to react swiftly both strategically and at the operating level. This is not least of all the reason for our decision to focus on book business.” Since last fiscal year, edel AG has been extending all of its service to including the book segment.

edel is investing: The capital spending budget rose from EUR 2.1 million as of March 31, 2007 to EUR 7.3 million as of March 31, 2008 on account of the new printing and service facilities which are currently under construction. edel is repaying its loans: In the first half of its fiscal year, the Company again paid back EUR 4.2 million of its bank loans and systematically used new loans for financing its capital spending plans.

Says Haentjes: “We are busy. Our sales are up, earnings are looking good and we have our costs under control. We are cautiously very confident that full-year earnings will exceed the previous year’s figures and are expecting a surge in the second half of the year. This forecast is borne out by the current indicators: At the moment, we are thrilled to see that Scooter has shot to No. 1 position on the UK albums chart, while our subsidiary optimal media production is boasting full order books. Last week, I read a report on the interim financial statements issued by one of the music majors, which confirmed to me just how well edel is positioned particularly compared with its peers.”


The Company will be releasing its full interim report on the first half of its fiscal year at the end of May 2008.

The consolidated financial statements in figures: