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Media group Bertelsmann has reported a first-half leap in profits for January to June 2010 and raised its forecast for the year.
Group turnover rose to €7.4bn as against €7.1bn in 2009, with operating earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rising to €755m (from €497m in 2009). The net profit was €246m, against a
loss of €333m in 2009. Return on sales increased from 7% in the first half of 2009 to £10.3%.
Bertelsmann now forecasts that the group result for the full year will exceed €500m.
Chairman and c.e.o. Harmut Ostrowski said the operating result was a "record high". "We are now profiting from having expanded our market leading positions, while also having lastingly improved our cost structure," he said.
Bertelsmann company Random House was said to have "significantly increased its first-half 2010 sales and operating EBIT, driven by major increases in revenues and profits from its US division and rapidly rising digital sales."
E-book sales at Random House US rose 300% during the six-month period, and "comparably" in Germany and UK, with the UK Group’s Nigella Lawson digital cooking app becoming "an immediate global bestseller".