Hamburg, March 23, 2007
Gruner + Jahr´s growth was faster than that of any other German major publisher for the second consecutive year, forcefully underscoring its position as Europe´s biggest magazine publisher and Germany´s highestsales publishing house. Results were the highest they have been since 2000, the year of the Internet boom. Profitability also increased for the second year running.

In the 2006 fiscal year, G+J increased its revenues by 9.1 percent to €2.86 billion (2005: €2.62 billion), the biggest revenue surge seen in the past eleven years. The revenue increase was primarily attributable to new titles and expansion, and the first-time full-year consolidation of Motorpresse Stuttgart and the Prinovis gravure operations, a joint venture with Arvato and Axel Springer. Despite tough competition and sales markets that continued sluggish, the other titles in the portfolio also made a solid contribution to the revenue increase. G+J once again had the largest international revenue share of any German publisher: 53.9 percent of total revenue was generated outside the country.

Profitability also picked up, and results improved overproportionately to revenues. At €276.9 million Operating EBIT was up by 10.6 percent year on year (2005: €250.3 million). Return on sales has increased steadily over the past two years and rose to 9.7 percent (2005: 9.5 percent). In the core markets Germany and France, it was significantly higher, reaching double digits. The rise in revenues is attributable to an overall gratifying performance in the core business, despite a market environment that continued difficult: The ad sales market underwent a favorable development, and portfolio effects and special items boosted the bottom line.

Publishing investments rose to €57 million (2005: €42 million), in addition to start-up investments for the new PRINOVIS gravure facility in Liverpool and a print market that continues to be keenly fought. Gruner + Jahr launched eleven new titles in 2006. This brings the worldwide total of new titles launched in the past three years to 57 – of the total 300 objects in the publisher´s portfolio. The number of employees worldwide increased to 14,529 (2005: 13,887).

As Dr. Bernd Kundrun, CEO of Gruner + Jahr AG, declared today at the Annual Press Conference in Hamburg: "G+J remains on its expansionist

course. We have forcefully increased our revenues the second year running, added market shares while also improving profitability. We will continue to pursue this strategy of profitable growth in 2007, with a focus on exploiting the potential of our major brands even more intensely– in the print realm and beyond. Apart from participations and the print business, our "Expand your Brand" projects are the priority now. The company will be able to continue successfully realizing this strategy of expansion thanks to its financial strength, said Achim Twardy, Chief Financial Officer on the Gruner + Jahr AG Executive Board: "Gruner + Jahr is in excellent financial shape. We expanded considerably by acquisitions in 2006 and handled our investments, both in publishing and in the print business, on our own steam. And we intend to continue this investment strategy in 2007 as well."

The company´s employees will also benefit from the good results of the 2006 fiscal year: The Executive Board announced that this year´s profit participation payout would be well above that of the previous year.

The "Expand your Brand" Initiative Was Launched Strategically speaking, the "Expand your Brand" initiative to develop G+J´s brands had a formative influence on the year under review. Dr. Bernd Kundrun said: "In these times, when new digital media keep emerging, people´s media use habits have changed dramatically. Our aim as a forward-looking media group is to adjust our branded offerings to the needs of today´s readers and users. Therefore, our editors and publishing people will explore the development of editorial concepts beyond print in even greater depth than before– both online and offline."

Some early successes of the "Expand your Brand" strategy include augenzeuge.de, an online picture agency for amateur photographers, and view-fotocommunity.de, the Web site of the STERN line extension, VIEW. Gratifying "offline" results include the GEO Thematic Encyclopedia, which had achieved total circulation of 1.2 million copies, and the popular trade fair "eat´n STYLE." By introducing this new type of trade fair, the Gruner + Jahr subsidiary G+J EME created the first-ever platform that turns the G+J brands into a direct experience. In two days, more than 15,000 people visited the trade fair to view the offerings of over 100 exhibitors in Cologne. The fair was hosted by G+J-brands ESSEN&TRINKEN, ESSEN&TRINKEN FÜR JEDEN TAG, LIVING AT HOME and VIVA, who were also instrumental in realizing it.

Another "Expand your Brand" step was the recent acquisition of the ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA VERLAG, Munich, the leading special-interest publisher in Kino Film, Video/DVD, music and games. In particular, the imprint´s extensive database – and its in-depth experience with Livepaper technology - opens up a wide range of possible uses for all of Gruner + Jahr´s divisions.

"Expand your Brand" will continue in 2007, and Bernd Kundrun announced a number of new projects: "Gruner + Jahr is changing from a pure magazine publisher into a multimedia content provider. We made this very clear by reformulating our corporate mission: "We inform, inspire and entertain people to enrich their lives."

Gruner + Jahr´s universally acknowledged commitment to quality is the driving force behind this development and the foundation on which it builds. In 2006, G+J magazines and imprints again won numerous prizes, and made an impressive showing at the LEAD AWARDS 2007, after having received awards for Lead Magazine of the Year and Newcomer of the Year as recently as 2005. In Austria, VERLAGSGRUPPE NEWS won awards for the Publishing Executive and the Journalist of the Year. In the Netherlands, G+J was voted the magazine publisher of the year.

Expansion Worldwide – G+J Considerably Improves its Position in China Gruner + Jahr considerably expanded its international activities last year, and now has operations in 24 countries all over the world. The growth giant China is an especially interesting emerging market: By buying a stake in BODA/Ray Li, G+J last fall, considerably improved its position in one of the world´s most promising magazine markets and, together with its new partner Ray Li, became China´s second-biggest magazine publisher. BODA/Ray Li publishes four women´s and living magazines and operates numerous other businesses clustered around the RAY LI brand, including Asia´s most popular Internet portal for women, which scores around eight million unique visits per day.

In Southeastern Europe, the joint venture established in 2006 between Gruner + Jahr and Sanoma International is already the leading magazine publisher in Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia. In Greece, the acquisition of Daphne marked the group´s entry into yet another emerging market.

G+J Germany Enhanced its Leading Position
In Germany, Gruner + Jahr significantly increased its revenues and result, and further enhanced its leading position in the ad sales market. Online ad sales rose strongly, and total sales from all G+J Web sites put them among G+J Germany´s Top 10 revenue drivers. This gratifying development was reflected in the market ranking of all German magazine publishers (Kressreport 3/2007), where, for the first time since the boom year of 2000, G+J scored top placement again.

Again, the company´s strong brands were the drivers behind this upward trend: STERN posted its best result ever, and remains the division´s biggest individual contributor of revenues and profits. Revenues and earnings at BRIGITTE, GALA and GEO again showed a very gratifying development. GEO´s 30th-anniversary issue had record sales of over 600,000 copies. G+J Corporate Media scored the best result in its history. Motorpresse Stuttgart, which continues to deliver a very satisfactory performance, also posted record earnings..

Major, well-established G+J brands celebrated big anniversaries: AUTO MOTOR und SPORT turned sixty, ELTERN forty, and GEOLINO ten. NEON, on the market since 2003, is today regarded as one of the most successful magazine launches of the past ten years. Two new magazines made their market debut: EMOTION and DOGS.

G+J France Grew its Market Shares PRISMA PRESSE in France also posted a rise in revenues and earnings, despite a market that continued fiercely competitive As in past years, FEMME ACTUELLE formed the backbone of this positive development, again making a key contribution to net income in 2006. The TV guides – TÉLÉ LOISIRS and the two biweekly TV magazines TÉLÉ 2 SEMAINES and TV GRANDES CHAÎNES – defended their leading market position among TV listings magazines and improved their result considerably. Fifteen years after its establishment, CAPITAL registered the highest circulation in its history and confidently defended its position as Europe´s biggest business magazine. In the people segment, GALA had a historic year in ad sales and VOICI managed to become the country´s absolute number one in terms of circulation. The acquisition of Axel Springer´s BIEN DANS MA VIE complements the portfolio of women´s magazines by adding a title for younger female readers.

In fall, Gruner + Jahr´s joint venture with Axel Ganz premiered the weekly women´s magazine JASMIN in this very keenly fought market segment – the first launch of a women´s weekly in France since 1984. G+J International Improved Its Revenues and Result Considerably G+J International registered a sharp increase in revenues for 2006, thanks in part to the consolidation of Motorpresse International, and the acquisitions in Greece and Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia. Results rose overproportionately to revenues.

In Austria, VERLAGSGRUPPE NEWS further enhanced its market leadership and closed 2006 with a record result – despite the entry of new competitors. In Spain, G+J ESPAÑA established a joint venture MPS Spain, which will turn it into a market leader among magazine publishers this year. In the Netherlands, GLAMOUR – which was only launched in 2005 – rose to the top of the women´s magazine market last year.

The GEO family added new members in Greece and Slovenia, bringing the total number of international GEO editions on the market to roughly fifteen. Many of them are already operating at a profit. FOCUS made its debut in China, the country´s first popular-science magazine.

Meanwhile, several titles were discontinued for lack of publishing prospects, including GALA in Spain and GEOFOCUS in Russia. In newspapers, the FINANCIAL TIMES DEUTSCHLAND continued its successful development last year and has now become well established in the market. The SÄCHSISCHE ZEITUNG and MORGENPOST again achieved outstanding results. Competition in the print business continued tough, both in Europe and in the U.S. PRINOVIS further enhanced its leading position in the European gravure market and opened a state-of-the-art printing facility in Liverpool, England in September. From there, PRINOVIS is tapping important segments of the lucrative British market.

G+J´s American subsidiary BROWN PRINTING also had a successful year despite tough competition, and reinforced its good position in the market.

Dr. Andreas Knaut
Executive Vice President
Phone: +49-40-3703 3113
E-Mail: knaut.andreas@guj.de