Germany's Splendid Books Solid 3rd Quarter, Even Without ‘The Expendables’

3:23 AM PST 11/11/2011 by Scott Roxborough

Comments

The German licensing and distribution group is shifting its business to more high-end titles including Arnold Schwarzenegger’s “The Last Stand” and Aaron Eckhart-starrer “I, Frankenstein.”

COLOGNE, Germany – German indie licenser/distributor Splendid Medien didn’t have a box office hit comparable to last year’s The Expendibles to sweeten its bottom line this past quarter but the Cologne-based group still delivered solid numbers. Q3 revenue slipped to $12.3 million (€9.1 million) from €12 million in Q3 2010 but pre-tax and interest (EBIT) profit held steady at $678,000. For the year so far, Splendid boosted sales to $41 million (€30.2 million), from €28 million this time last year, and quadrupled its pre-tax (EBT) profit to $2.7 million (€2 million).

AFM Executive Suite: Andreas Klein, Splendid Film

Germany's Splendid Boosts First Half Figures Thanks to 'The Expendables'

•AFM 2011

CEO Andreas Klein rebuilt Splendid between 2005-2008 with a high-volume, low-cost model focusing on quick turn around of direct-to-video titles. But in the past three years Splendid has been moving up-market with larger theatrical titles to feed its cinema business in Germany and the Benelux territories. Among the higher-profile titles planned for release in 2012-2013 are The Last Stand starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, the sequel Expendables 2 and Aaron Eckhart-starrer I, Frankenstein, which Splendid picked up for Germany and Benelux at the American Film Market last week.