Studio Babelsberg AG: shareholders approve dividend of € 0.10

Studio Babelsberg AG, listed on the open market, pays a dividend of € 0.10 per share. The shareholders attending the shareholders’ meeting overwhelmingly confirmed the Board of Directors and the Board of Supervisors in the cinema of the fx.Center Babelsberg. The Board of Directors summed up the fiscal year 2008 and drew a positive balance. Studio Babelsberg AG generated a turnover of EUR65.9M and a profit after taxes of EUR3M. The overall performance amounting to EUR93M is the same as in the year before. The Group (Individual Financial Statement) generated a positive profit amounting to EUR3.5M after taxes.
All agenda items were passed by the present shareholders as suggested by the administration. The topic “use of the net profit” was approved by 88,06%. The shareholders expressed their confidence in the Board of Directors and the Board of Supervisors with an approval of 99,64% respectively 99,86%. Ernst & Young AG Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft und Steuerberatungsgesellschaft Berlin was re-elected to audit the fiscal year 2009. Furthermore, the shareholders’ meeting authorized the management to purchase own shares up to 10% of the company’s equity capital existent at the moment of adopting the resolution.
In 2008, Studio Babelsberg once again proved to be a professional service provider and reliable partner in the international film business. Our subsidiary Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures was assigned to provide the production service (the entire production process of a film) on three international motion pictures: The Reader starring Kate Winslet and David Kross, the Warner Bros- production Ninja Assassin and Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds starring Brad Pitt, Diane Kruger and Christoph Waltz. The photography of all three pictures predominantly took place at Studio Babelsberg and in Berlin-Brandenburg. In 2008, the Art Department Studio Babelsberg registered more than 290 film and non-film assignments. The Props, Set Dressing and Costume Department provided services for more than 860 projects. Furthermore, the co-production strategy was continued: in 2008, Studio Babelsberg engaged in a total of five films as co-producer or co-financier: The Reader, Ninja Assassin, Inglourious Basterds, Crashpoint: Berlin, 3 Seasons in Hell.
The Board of Directors underlined the strategic alliance with Joel Silver, which includes a profit sharing from the production packet of the Dark Castle films. The contracts bring about an extension of the alliance between Silver Pictures and Studio Babelsberg. The essential element of the agreement is Studio Babelsberg co-producing all the upcoming Dark Castle films.