Napster Settlement Impacts Bertlelsmann AG Earnings

Because of its settlements with the four major music publishers involved in the Napster case -estimated at over $400 million- the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann AG (FRA: BTG4) reported a first-half net loss of shareholder profit of €51 million ($69.4 million), compared to earnings to shareholder of €258 million euros ($351.2 million) in the previous fiscal year.  The last of the pending Napster cases was settled the in August.  The BMG division posted a net operating EBIT loss of €3 which was said to reflect the sell off of its BMG Music Publishing division, the market declining by 12 percent and exchange rate effects.  Bertelsmann’s announcement also stated that although it saw a strong growth in the sell of digital formats, this effect proved unable to compensate for the decline in physical sales, which equaled a drop of roughly 20 percent. Sony BMG expects to counter this trend by expanding its digital business,