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 21.4 million in the previous year. This growth comes despite persistently muted conditions in the German book market. The company’s group EBIT reached EUR 1.1 million, translating into an EBIT margin of 4.4%.
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 growth was particularly driven by the “Book” segment, which recorded revenues of EUR 22.9 million, up from EUR 21.4 million in the same period last year. This performance was bolstered by top releases under new and established imprints. The new “Pfaueninsel” imprint saw notable success with Florian Illies’ “Traume aus Feuer,” which became a SPIEGEL bestseller and repeatedly reached the top ten. Under the classic “Lübbe” imprint, Lucy Astner’s “Kein Sommer ohne August” also performed well, alongside the paperback edition of Ken Follett’s “The Armour of Light” and Eva Almstadt’s crime thriller “Akte Nordsee – Die letzte Predigt.”
Despite the revenue increase, segment EBIT in the Book segment declined to EUR 1.0 million from EUR 1.2 million in the previous year, reflecting higher costs. The “Novel Booklets” segment saw a slight revenue increase to EUR 1.7 million (up from EUR 1.6 million), with segment EBIT improving to EUR 0.1 million.
The company experienced higher costs in the quarter, with the cost of materials rising to EUR 12.4 million from EUR 10.6 million, primarily due to increased printing costs ahead of new releases. Personnel expenses also increased to EUR 6.1 million from EUR 5.7 million, partly due to filling vacant positions. These factors impacted earnings, with consolidated earnings before taxes (EBT) coming to EUR 1.0 million (down from EUR 1.2 million) and consolidated net profit attributable to shareholders at EUR 0.7 million (down from EUR 0.8 million). Earnings per share stood at EUR 0.05.
The proportion of revenues from community-driven business models decreased to 24% in the first quarter, down from 31% in the previous year, while digital products accounted for 35% of revenues (down from 38%). This shift reflects the strong performance of classic book formats.
Bastei Lubbe’s balance sheet remains stable, with total group assets at EUR 107.2 million as of June 30, 2026, and equity attributable to parent company shareholders increasing to EUR 66.4 million.
The company has 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 interim statement is available at www.bastei-luebbe.de. This performance indicates resilience in a challenging market and a continued focus on profitability.
