The effect of Amazon’s much talked-about “reset of its [book] inventory levels and rightsizing of its warehouse footprint” is front and center in News Corp.’s fiscal first quarter account of HarperCollins’ performance, and the impact is clear. Sales at Harper fell $59 million in period, down 11 percent, to $487 million. The changes at Amazon “resulted in lower order volume and higher returns, despite consumer sales data remaining consistent with prior quarters.” Foreign exchange, due to the strong dollar, cost the company $22 million in the quarter as well. Backlist sales comprised about 65 percent of sales in the quarter, […]
