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Wild Bunch AG / Release of an announcement according to Article 37x of the WpHG [the
German Securities Trading Act]
19.11.2015 10:34
Interim report according to Article 37x of the WpHG, transmitted by
DGAP - a service of EQS Group AG.
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
Wild Bunch AG, ISIN DE000A13SXB0, Symbol WBAG
Wild Bunch AG publishes interim announcement as of 30 September 2015
- Business developments: creation of Wild Bunch TV and Chinese
partnership
- Fourth quarter critical to full year revenue and adjusted EBIT
Berlin/Paris, 19 November 2015 - Wild Bunch AG ('Wild Bunch') has closed
the first three quarters of the year 2015 with revenues of EUR 89.9
million. As compared to last year, the former Senator Entertainment AG
('Senator') recorded revenues of EUR 15.1 million during the same period.
In the 2015 fiscal year, revenue is expected to grow by a factor of six to
seven times compared to Senator's published revenue for 2014. Despite
one-time integration and merger costs incurred as part of the merger
process in the 2015 fiscal year, the Management Board expects to see a
significant increase in operating profit compared with former Senator in
2014.
CORPORATE HIGHLIGHTS
In September, Wild Bunch launched Wild Bunch TV, extending its activities
to coproduction and distribution of TV series dedicated to the
international market. This expansion is a key component of Wild Bunch
content diversification strategy. The company also announced its first two
series: MEDICI: MASTERS OF FLORENCE, an eight-part English speaking Italian
series about the rise of the Medici family and the Italian Renaissance and
FOUR SEASONS IN HAVANA, an eight-part Spanish series based upon the popular
book collection by Cuban-born, novelist and journalist Leonardo Padura.
During third quarter, Wild Bunch, together with Chinese entertainment
investment fund China Film and TV Capital (CFATC), finalized negotiations
for the creation of the China Europe Film Fund (CEFF), a unique entity
dedicated to the development and financing of pictures co-produced by
Chinese and European producers. CEFF has been officially launched on
November 3rd at the occasion of the official visit of French President
François Hollande to Chinese President Xi Jinping. For Wild Bunch, China
is a key market to sell its movies and represent an important source of
movies for its distribution network.
These content and geographical expansions confirm Wild Bunch strategy and
ambition and are significant headways to transform the company into an
undisputed leader in the filmed entertainment industry, growing fast and
profitably.
ACTIVITIES
THEATRICAL DISTRIBUTION
As compared to 2014, the trend in the Group's core European markets in the
third quarter of 2015 remains overall positive. While the number of
admissions increased in Germany, Italy and Spain, the French market
decreased by 5% but remains the strongest market. Total revenues from
German cinemas from January to September amounted to EUR 757.6 million
(prior year period: EUR 690.6 million), which represents a growth of
9.7%.French box office amounted to EUR 878.2 million, which shows a
decrease of 5.1% (prior year period: EUR 925.0 million). In Spain, box
office rose by 5.2% to EUR 414.4 million (prior year period: EUR 394.1
million), and in Italy box office revenues amounted to EUR 432.9 million
(prior year period: EUR 414.8 million), which represents an increase of
4.4%.
The Group released a total of 13 movies through its distribution network in
the third quarter. In Germany and Austria, four movies were released,
including the animated comedy OOOPS - NOAH IS GONE by Toby Genkel & Sean
McCormack and horror film SINISTER 2 by Ciarán Foy also released in French
cinemas, where the Group totalized the release of three movies. Five films
were released in Spain, including AMY by Asif Kapadia and WHILE WE WERE
YOUNG by Noah Baumbach, while one movie was released in Italy.
For the fourth quarter of 2015, the company plans to release 22 films in
cinemas in France, Germany/Austria, Italy and Spain.
INTERNATIONAL SALES
In the third quarter of 2015, the Group activated the international sales
of ten new films including LOVE by Gaspard Noé, ICE AND THE SKY by Luc
Jacquet, LOLO by Julie Delpy or THE LITTLE PRINCE by Mark Osborne.
The third quarter is marked by 3 important markets for international sales,
Mostra of Venice, Toronto International Film Festival and San Sebastian
Film Festival during which Wild Bunch movies won such awards as for: OUR
LITTLE SISTER by Kore-Eda Hirokazu (audience award) and EVOLUTION by Lucile
Hadzihalilovic (Special Jury and Best Cinematography awards). The sales of
PLAYMOBIL: ROBBERS, THIEVES & REBELS, an $ 80 million animated movie based
on the popular kid's toy line for which Wild Bunch handles international
sales, were launched in Toronto.
DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION AND HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Globally, in Wild Bunch key markets, the demand for physical videos has
declined since beginning of 2015 while VoD increasingly contributed to
total revenues in the video market. At the same time, the Free and Pay TV
market is still challenged with the development of new channel networks
such as Multi Channel Networks or the expansion of SVOD services such as
Netflix.
In the third quarter of 2015, a number of movies sold by Wild Bunch to
local TVs recorded high audiences such as GREAT HOPE SPRING on ARD in
Germany or SAFE on D8 in France while some movies were successfully
released on DVD such as SAMBA in Germany or Season 5 of THE WALKING DEAD or
LES CHEVALIERS DU ZODIAQUE in France.
In September, the 2015 Deauville Grand Prize went to the movie 99 HOMES by
Ramin Bahrani. This movie is part of the e-Cinema program launched by Wild
Bunch, as a new distribution channel dedicated to the distribution of
ambitious movies directly in video-on-demand, supported by a big marketing
campaign and the willingness to propose them to the largest possible
audience.
Q4 2015 AND OUTLOOK
In addition, the company is still actively working at both its financial
restructuring and its expansion, including but not limited to external
growth via acquisitions.
As every year, the last quarter is of key importance for the company, with
a significant number of movies to be released and an important part of
internationally sold movies to be delivered to clients, thus triggering
revenue booking.
Contact:
Investor Relations
cometis AG
Ulrich Wiehle / Thorben Burbach
Phone: +49 (611) 205855-23
e-mail: burbach@cometis.de
19.11.2015 The DGAP Distribution Services include Regulatory Announcements,
Financial/Corporate News and Press Releases.
Media archive at www.dgap-medientreff.de and www.dgap.de
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| Company: |
Wild Bunch AG |
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Knesebeckstraße 59-61 |
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10719 Berlin |
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Germany |
| Internet: |
www.senator.de |
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Announcement DGAP News-Service |
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