Barnes & Noble’s stock started falling from the opening bell on Wednesday morning after the company reported bigger than expected losses (while management acted like everything was wonderful). But the selloff turned into a stampede late in the afternoon, with significant volume in final hour of trading pushing shares down $4.51 for the day, a decline of 27.7 percent, to close at $11.79 a share. The market as a whole turned negative in the afternoon as well, also trading down in the last hour, but the market movement was nothing like the bookseller’s falloff. In total, 9.45 million shares of […]
Archives for September 2015
Perseus Hires Greenhill to Explore Sale
The Perseus Books Group announced Wednesday afternoon that “it has initiated a formal process to explore a potential sale of the business” and has retained Gregory Miller at Greenhill & Co. (Miller represented Scholastic in the recent sale of their education business.) PBG CEO David Steinberger says in the announcement, “We have received multiple inquiries from parties expressing significant interest in the company.” He added, “The Perseus Books board has determined that it is our fiduciary responsibility to explore a potential sale transaction.” As we noted when Centre Lane Partners took control of parent company Perseus LLC early in the year at […]
People: Fotinos to Lead Combined Tarcher Perigee
John Duff has decided to retire after 23 as publisher of Perigee Books, leaving at the end of the month. Penguin Publishing Group president Madeline McIntosh writes to staff, “He will be missed not only for his accomplishments on behalf of the business, but also as a warm and generous mentor to so many. I know you will join me in thanking him for everything he has done for our books, our authors, and for Penguin.” She adds in a separate memo, “John himself is irreplaceable, but he has brought his characteristic careful attention to helping plan a smooth transition for […]
Briefs: BitLit and Kindle Scout Expand, Scholastic UK Purchase
Amazon’s “reader-powered publishing platform” Kindle Scout is expanding beyond the US, welcoming author submissions from Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and India. The company says that so far, 75 titles have been picked up for publication by Kindle Press. Also expanding is BitLit, the company that helps enable print and ebook bundling. The start-up is working with Ingram to let publishers who use CoreSource Plus for digital asset management and distribution integrate with BitLit. In the UK, Scholastic Ltd. has acquired Troubadour, which operates as The Travelling Book Company. With a network of sales agents who work with schools across the UK and Ireland, […]
Another Soft First Quarter for Wiley
Wiley reported first quarter sales for the period ending July 30, with sales falling 3 percent to $423 million (down $15 million) on currency exchange, as half their sales come from the weaker pound and euro. Adjusted operating income of $44.9 million was down 10 percent for the quarter, and net income was down $2 million (or 4 percent) to $32.4 million. On a “constant currency” basis sales actually rose 2 percent, with foreign exchange subtracting $22 million in sales in the quarter. In the professional development division, which includes their remaining trade books, revenue rose 10 percent to $98.7 […]
BN Education Grow Sales and Store, But Not Earnings
Barnes & Noble Education issued its first quarterly report as an independent company — though this one doesn’t really count, since it covers results through August 1, and BNED became a separate entity the following day, on August 2. First quarter sales of $239 million rose $13 million, or 5.9 percent, compared to a year ago, but they had a bigger EBITDA loss of -$35.2 million ($1.2 million more than a year ago), “due primarily to higher expenses associated with new store growth in the non-rush first quarter and continued investments in digital education.” They have been steadily sinking money into their […]