Revenues Up 14.5 Percent at Bertelsmann

GUTERSLOH, September 7: Gains at the RTL Group helped
Bertelsmann to post half-year revenues of 9.1 billion euros, a 14.5-percent
gain on the first half of 2005.

The company posted a net profit of 339 million euros, up
slightly from last year’s 300 million euros. The buyback of Groupe Bruxelles
Lambert’s 25.1-percent stake in Bertelsmann for 4.5 billion euros increased the
group’s economic debt to 8.7 billion as of June 30, 2006, from the 3.9 billion
euros at the end of last year. The sale of the music publishing business to
Vivendi and “a restrained investment policy” are expected to help the company
reduce that debt.