Judge Charles R. Norgle denied Quad’s request for an expedited trial in the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against the company’s planned merger with rival printer LSC. Instead, Norgle only slightly modified the Department of Justice’s proposed schedule, setting November 14 as the trial’s start date. That could be delayed, however, as he noted that “there are multiple criminal cases involving incarcerated defendants scheduled for jury trial during the fall of 2019; in the events of a scheduling conflict, these criminal trials may take priority over the bench trial in this matter.” Quad had asked the court to schedule the trial in […]
DOJ Sues to Block Quad-LSC Merger
The US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit in an Illinois District Court on June 20 to block the proposed merger of Quad and LSC Communications, the last two major US based book printers standing after several years of consolidation in a contracting print industry. The merger, says the filing, “threatens to increase prices, reduce quality, and limit availability of printed material that millions of Americans rely on to receive and disseminate information and ideas,” echoing concerns raised by many in publishing since the announcement of the planned merger in October. The Justice Department argues that the loss of the […]
Barnes & Noble Store Comps Down 2.3 Percent In Fourth Quarter
Barnes & Noble reported on June 19 what may be its last quarterly earnings statement in its waning days as a public company, and the numbers held few surprises. For the fourth quarter, sales were $755 million, down $31 million from a year ago, with same-store sales declining 2.3 percent. The net loss was $18.7 million, a slight improvement over a loss of $21 million last Q4. Consolidated EBITDA, which excludes one-time charges, was $4.6 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $6.7 million a year ago. For the year, sales were $3.553 billion, from $3.662 billion in 2018. Net […]
Wiley’s Publishing Decline Continues, But CEO Sees Turnaround
Wiley reported 4th quarter and full-year earnings for the period ending April 30. First, the quarter: Q4 sales were $491.2 million, up slightly from last quarter’s $477.3 million but only because of $18 million extra revenue from the Learning House acquisition. Net income was $63.2 million, up from $54.1 million in Q4 2018. But publishing sales continued to decline further still; STM and professional publishing sales were down 2 percent, to $68.2 million from $71.5 million (much improved from Q3’s 20 percent decline), and education publishing sales were $29.8 million, down from $35.3 million. Turning to the full year, revenue […]
People, Etc.
Kim Gray has joined Sourcebooks as director of sales – mass and special markets. She most recently was vp/director of sales for Reader’s Digest/Trusted Media Brands. At Little, Brown, Elora Weil was promoted to associate publicist (she has been supporting the Spark and Voracious teams), and Erinn McGrath moved up to director of publicity and marketing, James Patterson. At Little, Brown Children’s, Marisa Russell joins the company as executive director, publicity on June 24. She was publicity director at Penguin Children’s. Siena Koncsol has been promoted to associate director, publicity. Little Brown UK has been clearer than Dutton in the […]
Industry Considers POD as Offset Capacity Shrinks
The Book Industry Study Group held a two-hour panel June 6 on “The Potential for On-Demand Printing,” moderated by Ken Fultz, recently retired from his role as general manager at Ohio-based Bookmasters. Contributing were Andrea Fleck-Nisbet (Ingram Content Group), Dane Neller (On Demand Books), Michelle Weir (Hewlett Packard), and Rich Dzurus (Canon). Approximately 30 printing, publishing, and paper professionals were in the audience. The panel was an enthusiastic sales pitch for POD, but one worth listening to. As one might expect, much of the conversation turned on the shortage in offset printing capacity that has been felt across the industry, […]