America Online Inc’s European joint venture, AOL Bertelsmann Online appear to be going strong, breaking even after just one year of operation and doubling its subscriber base from November’s total of 200,000 to 400,000 at the end of July this year. And the company, a joint venture with German media giant Bertelsmann AG expects to even better in its German home market next year. The company’s head, Andreas von Blottnitz predicted a 60% growth in the German market, but that AOL Bertelsmann would outperform that due to new services that enable subscribers to personalize what they get and a focus on key market groups of subscribers. The company expects to be profitable in the fiscal year ending June 30 1998.
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