Indigo reported earnings for the first quarter ending June 27 earlier in August, with sales of CA$135 million, down $57.5 million from $193 million last year, a 30 percent decline. Net loss was $(31.6) million, compared to $(19.1) million in last year’s quarter, during a period heavily affected by pandemic-related store closures. Indigo reopened their stores starting May 19 and had all but one of their stores open again by the end of the quarter, though with reduced hours and social distancing within stores. (As previously announced, they did close 15 small-format stores at the end of June rather than […]
China Literature Says “Lack of Resilience” Led to Big Operating Loss
Online literature and entertainment platform China Literature announced results for the six months ended June 30, with sales of RMB3.26 billion ($460.5 million), up from RMB2.97 billion in the first six months of 2019. Most significantly, however, the company recorded a major operating loss of RMB3.56 billion ($502.2 million), compared to earnings of RMB527.7 million last year — mostly due to the devastating impact of the pandemic on film and TV production and consumption. Company ceo Cheng Wu said, “The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and a complex and changing macro-environment had a negative impact on our business. The […]
Storytel Continues Strong Growth in Second Quarter
Swedish ebook and audio streaming platform Storytel reported earnings for the second quarter ending June 30, with net sales of SEK554 million ($63.4 million), up from SEK402 million in Q2 2019. EBITDA was a loss of SEK(37.8) million, improved from a loss of SEK(78.6) million last year’s quarter. The average number of paying subscribers was 1,257,000, up from 887,500 last year, or 42 percent. Streaming revenue was SEK459.1 million, up from SEK 320.1 million, or 43 percent, with the company forecasting 32 percent growth for the year as a whole. Print revenue — from Storytel-owned publishing houses Norstedts, People’s Press […]
Parneros and Barnes & Noble Make Final Arguments Before Judge Rules on Summary Judgement
In an August 6 phone conference, attorneys for Barnes & Noble and BN’s former ceo Demos Parneros presented final arguments on the bookseller’s motion for summary judgment dismissing two of the three claims against them before Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who replaced John G. Koeltl for unstated reasons in February. The motion, which aims to throw out Parneros’ claims that BN defamed him and failed to act in good faith and fair dealing when they terminated him in July 2018, had been fully briefed when the case was reassigned, and then was delayed by the pandemic. The hour-long conference, conducted […]
HMH Sales Fell 35 Percent In Q2, with Trade Declining 10 Percent
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported earnings for the second quarter ending June 30. At HMH Books & Media, net sales were $35.2 million, down from $39.1 million. The 10 percent decline was “primarily due to lower net sales of both adult and young reader’s categories due to the closure of bookstores during the COVID-19 crisis and the corresponding delay in releases of new frontlist titles.” The net loss of $(1.8) million was an improvement from the loss of $(5.4) million last year’s Q2, largely due to improved margins and decreased selling and administration expense, thanks to “lower discretionary spending and labor […]
Corporate: WH Smith Expects to Lay Off 1,500 Employees
WH Smith issued a brief trading update today to accompany proposals that would restructure their UK stores to lay off approximately 1500 employees across the business, with both Travel and High Street businesses facing a long, slow recovery from the pandemic. The cost of the plan is estimated at £15 million to £19 million pounds and they are in consultation with the employees. (In early July the Bookseller confirmed that the company was already in consultation to layoff 150 people at their head offices in London and Swindon.) Though High Street sales have improved gradually as lockdown restrictions eased, they […]