Walker Books Group, whose divisions include Candlewick Press in the US, has been sold to China-based Trustbridge Global Media (a unit of private equity firm Trustbridge Partners). Walker had been the largest employee- and creator-owned publishing company. (The ownership had included more than 75 employees, and over 150 authors and illustrators.) In recent years, Trustbridge acquired Peachtree Publishers in Atlanta (2018) and Holiday House (2016), and they partnered with Chronicle Books for the Chronicle Bridge imprint in China (and France’s Bayard for a Bayard Bridge imprint). The deal closed on or about May 7 according to a UK Companies House […]
New Books Publishing May 12
The changes in spring pub dates have tapered down — at least for now [publun.ch/pubdatechanges] — and we’re ready to shine a light again on some of this week’s notable new releases. As in previous weeks, our sample Bookshop and Aerbook store carousels provide easy displays of books publishing today in need of attention and support, featuring: 13 new works of fiction https://bookshop.org/lists/new-fiction-publishing-may-12 https://aerbook.com/store/publishers_lunch/New_Fiction_Publishing_May_12/216026 8 new nonfiction titles https://bookshop.org/lists/new-nonfiction-publishing-on-may-12 https://aerbook.com/store/publishers_lunch/New_Nonfiction_Publishing_May_12/216027 More new children’s/YA books https://bookshop.org/lists/new-children-s-titles-publishing-in-may https://aerbook.com/store/publishers_lunch/New_Childrens_Titles_Publishing_May/215942
Two Longtime Barnes & Noble Warehouse Employees Have Died of Covid-19
Longtime employees at Barnes & Noble’s New Jersey distribution center Felix Ramirez and Alberto Joyasaca have died from complications related to Covid-19. Ramirez died April 13, according to co-workers, and Joyasaca died on May 4. BN spokesperson Alex Ortolani confirmed Ramirez’s death to NJ.com, saying the company was “deeply saddened by his passing.” Ortolani reports that the facility was closed for five days, through April 22 and he indicates there have been no positive cases in employees since then. He says they have closed four times already for a “deep cleaning,” with another one planned for May 9. In late […]
Harper Sees Sales Slide, Earnings Gain
Sales at HarperCollins fell modestly in their fiscal third quarter, at $412 million, their fourth straight quarterly decline, $9 million lower than a year ago. The company said the drop was “primarily due to the difficult comparisons to the prior year, which had higher sales of Rachel Hollis’ titles,” along with a $3 million negative effect from foreign exchange. But EBITDA actually gained, at $55 million up $2 milllion, “primarily due to the different mix of titles.” Digital sales rose 3 percent compared to a year ago, “primarily due to growth in downloadable audiobooks,” and comprised 23 percent of consumer […]
Moody’s Expects Bertelsmann’s Sales to Fall 15 Percent and Not Fully Rebound Until 2022
Moody’s downgraded their ratings on Bertelsmann’s debt to Baa2, but they improved their outlook for the company from negative to stable. While Bertelsmann did not provide any guidance for the year in their recent first-quarter trading update, Moody’s forecasts that full-year sales will fall 15 percent, and that EBITDA “could decrease by around 30 percent.” Beyond that, Moody’s “expects revenues and EBITDA to progressively recover in 2021, but EBITDA will not reach 2019 levels until 2022.” The service says: “The downgrade reflects our expectation of a material contraction in the company’s revenues and profits in 2020 on the back of […]
Simon & Schuster Gains In First Quarter, Performing Better Than Expected In Crisis
ViacomCBS reported first quarter results on Thursday morning, with publishing division Simon & Schuster recording sales of $170 million, up $6 million from a year ago, “reflecting 16 percent growth in digital sales.” Adjusted OIBDA was flat at $19 million. (A year ago, under the freestanding CBS, they reported the slightly different measure of operating income, which was $17 million.) Across the publisher’s units, ceo Carolyn Reidy notes that adult books were up 8 percent in the quarter and digital audio continued to rise considerably, as children’s publishing “was down a little,” and the international units “took the biggest hit […]