Bertelsmann looks to Asia

Bertelsmann's 2011 earnings result was "insufficient" and "disappointing," the head of the German media giant, Thomas Rabe, told the company's annual shareholders' meeting Wednesday.

Rabe said that the group's sales were up slightly last year, increasing by 1.2 percent to 15.25 billion euros ($20.3 billion).

However, net profits fell by 6.7 percent to 612 million euros, he added, due partly to "weaknesses" in certain European markets.

Bertelsmann reported "good performance" in 2011 from advertising-driven businesses and rapidly growing e-book sales, but this was offset by planned start-up losses for new platforms and "weak performance" by some of the company's printing operations.

"It's an insufficient growth dynamic, and the profits are disappointing," Rabe said.

Greener pastures

Bertelsmann - which includes television group RTL, book publisher Random House, as well as magazine publisher Gruner + Jahr and the outsourcing service Arvato - said it would further "consolidate" its portfolio in search of growth.

"We want to make Bertelsmann easier to grow, more digital, more international," Rabe said, adding that the group was only "weakly" represented in emerging markets, thus failing to profit from the growth dynamic there.

Efforts to remedy the situation would be undertaken in China, India and Brazil, where Bertelsmann would aim to expand its printing and digital activities.

In addition, the German media firm announced a change in its legal structure, seeking to pave the way for a public offering to raise funds for expansion.

uhe/mll (epd, AFP)