Magazine Division Boosts Bertelsmann

German media giant Bertelsmann - the owner of RTL Group and Five - has reported an 8% rise in first-half operating earnings, boosted by results at its Gruner & Jahr magazine division.

Earnings before interest, tax and one-offs rose to 644m euros (£436.2m) in the six months to June, with its Random House book publishing and arvato printing and services unit also doing well - despite weaker results at its music unit BMG, owner of the Sony label.

The Bertelsmann chief executive, Gunter Thielen, told staff in a letter that its acquisitions, including Five, Russian TV channel REN TV, US CD retailer Columbia House and car magazine publisher Motor-Presse will boost sales and earnings in the second half of the year.

"Our major acquisitions and joint ventures ... will be shown on the books for the second half of the year," said Mr Thielen in the letter obtained by Reuters.

"We expect revenues and earnings to grow considerably for the full fiscal year 2005."

Sales at the world's fourth-largest media company, dropped 1.8% to 7.99bn euros (£5.41bn) in the first half.

Its music unit BMG - which is mostly Sony BMG, a joint venture with Japan's Sony - posted a drop in sales and earnings as it failed to recreate its 2004 domination of the music charts.

"The BMG music division was on target, but did not match last year's first-half performance, which was characterised by extraordinary successes," Bertelsmann said in the statement.

Top acts this year included Jennifer Lopez, the Backstreet Boys and R'n'B star Shakira. Bertelsmann said this year's new record releases were geared more to the second half of the year.

Bertelsmann's biggest and most profitable unit, RTL Group, Europe's biggest broadcaster and the owner of Five, reported a small rise in revenues over the first half of the year, while earnings stayed flat.

Underlying revenues, which take the effect of acquisitions and disposals into account, were up 1.1% to 2.4bn euros (£1.63bn) in the first six months of 2005. Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation remained at 407m euros (£278m).

The company said its acquisition of the 35% of Five it did not already own - bought from United Business Media in July - gave it "flexibility for the next phase of growth".