Press Release | Gütersloh, 11/04/2022

Bertelsmann achieves highest revenues in company history after nine months of 2022

• Revenues of €14.4 billion at end of Q3 2022
• Overall revenue growth 10 percent; organic growth 5 percent
• Full-year revenue forecast of €20 billion for the first time in the company’s history, confirmed

Gütersloh, November 04, 2022 – Bertelsmann, the international media, services, and education company, continued its positive business performance, and achieved the highest nine-month revenues in the company’s history.

Bertelsmann’s consolidated revenues amounted to €14.4 billion in the reporting period (previous year: €13.1 billion), a 10-percent increase. Organic growth was 5 percent. Major contributors to this development were RTL Group, with its film production subsidiary Fremantle, the music company BMG, and Arvato’s services businesses.

Thomas Rabe, Chairman & CEO of Bertelsmann, said: “The months from January to September 2022 have been gratifying for Bertelsmann overall. The Group’s highest-ever nine-month revenues make us confident that our full-year revenues will exceed the 20 billion euro mark for the first time in our history. This shows that we are on the right track with the implementation of our Boost strategy.” As part of this strategy, Bertelsmann is investing a total of between €5bn and €7bn in the growth of its businesses by 2025.

Highlights from the Divisions

RTL Group recorded 4.8 million paying subscribers for its streaming services RTL+ in Germany and Videoland in the Netherlands, up 41 percent from the end of September 2021. The group’s production arm Fremantle grew organically by 9 percent, and also expanded its business with acquisitions and expanded shares in existing businesses.

Penguin Random House’s two biggest-selling books in the first nine months of 2022 were “Atomic Habits” by James Clear and “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens. New bestsellers in the third quarter included “Dreamland” by Nicholas Sparks, “The Bullet That Missed” by Richard Osman, and “Carrie Soto Is Back” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. In November, Penguin Random House will publish “Surrender” by Bono and “The Light We Carry” by Michelle Obama.

BMG achieved significant double-digit growth and acquired further music rights, such as those of the Scottish rock band Simple Minds and the French electronic music pioneer Jean-Michel Jarre. BMG also acquired Germany’s largest independent music label Telamo, the market leader in the Schlager genre. In September, BMG announced that it had leased the Theater des Westens in Berlin until the end of 2024 to provide a home for its growing live events business.

Arvato continued to grow in the third quarter. Arvato Supply Chain Solutions further expanded its distribution centers in Germany and Poland, among other locations. Arvato Financial Solutions completed a realignment, and has been operating under the name Riverty for a few weeks now. Arvato Systems acquired major new customers in the energy-supply sector. The global customer experience (CX) company Majorel acquired the Spanish CX service provider Findasense.

Bertelsmann Printing Group was confronted with steep price increases for paper and energy in the gravure and offset printing businesses. The book-printing businesses in Germany and the U.S., on the other hand, developed satisfactorily. The Group’s digital businesses continued their growth.

Bertelsmann Education Group benefited from the continued high demand for digital education and training at Relias and Alliant. Afya announced the acquisition of two more medical schools in Brazil. As a result, a total of more than 22,000 students will complete their medical studies at Afya’s university locations in the future.

Bertelsmann Investments has made 66 new and follow-up investments since the beginning of the year, and had 322 holdings in companies and funds at the end of September. Initial investments were made in the area of digital health as part of the Bertelsmann Next initiative.

Rolf Hellermann, Bertelsmann’s Chief Financial Officer, added: “Based on the strong months of January to September, we remain confident for the full year. We now expect a steep revenue increase for the full year 2022.”

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services, and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the entertainment group RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato, the Bertelsmann Printing Group, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company has 145,000 employees and generated revenues of €18.7 billion in the 2021 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world. Bertelsmann aspires to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.