Bertelsmann Records Seven-Year Highs, Accelerates Digital Shift

Key drivers included strategic transactions such as the merger of Penguin and Random House, the full acquisition of BMG, and the expansion of financial and e-commerce services at Arvato. Group profit, however, declined to €573 million from €885 million in the prior year, primarily due to special items including downscaling print and direct-marketing businesses, expenditures on profit-improvement measures, and a value adjustment to the Hungarian television business.

CEO Thomas Rabe stated that the company's strategy implementation is paying off, significantly improving its growth profile by increasing high-growth business contributions to 27 percent of revenue in 2014, up from 22 percent in 2011. Bertelsmann invested €1.6 billion in growth businesses, including Relias Learning and SpotXchange, and expects higher revenues and operating EBITDA in 2015, targeting a Group profit of €1 billion in the medium term.