Lisa Erickson has joined Harper Perennial and Harper paperbacks as marketing director. She was previously at Crown. Jon Michael Darga has joined Aevitas Creative Management as an agent. He was previously an assistant editor at Crown. Madeline Jones has been promoted to associate editor at Holt. Sophie Christopher, 28, senior publicity manager at Transworld in the UK and co-founder of The FLIP, died from a suspected aneurysm on Monday. Transworld managing director Larry Finlay told the Bookseller that her colleagues were “in a state of shock.” He noted, “It’s always devastating when any colleague dies – losing someone so young, so full of life and […]
Bloomsbury Beats Expectations, Despite Decline in Trade Profit and Sales
Bloomsbury reported full-year results for the period ending February 28, 2019, beating analysts expectations on profit. Earnings before taxation and one-off charges was £14.4 million, up from £13.2 million the year before. Charges included legal and other fees and restructuring costs related to the acquisition of I.B. Tauris in May 2018. Sales for the year were £162.7 million, up £1.2 million from the prior year, slightly below expectations. But in the trade books division, sales of £99.3 million were down £2.9 million, and EBITDA before charges was £11.5, down from £12.1 in the prior year. The results were weighed down […]
Bertelsmann Calls Q1 Best Since 2008
Bertelsmann reported Q1 group revenues of €4.21 billion, up from €3.99 billion in the prior year’s quarter. Bertelsmann chairman and ceo Thomas Rabe said this was “one of its best first quarters in recent years” — since 2008, in fact. The company is no longer reporting EBITDA and group profit as part of the quarterly update, and as usual there were no details by division. Fuller figures will come in the half-year results. The company called out Penguin Random House’s “strong bestseller performance,” saying that Michelle Obama’s Becoming had continued to enjoy strong sales, with more than ten million copies […]
HMH Stock Down on Sales Decline
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported Q1 earnings May 9, for the period ending March 31, 2019, with sales of $194.6 million declining by just over $5 million, and seasonal net loss of ($117.4) million, $16 million worse than a year ago. With weakness across the educational publishing markets, as shown by the planned merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill (itself a bigger competitor looming for HMH), Houghton’s stock was down about 25 percent in the first hour of trading on the weak report. Trade sales (now called HMH Books & Media, but otherwise representing the same segment) were $40.8 million, up $4.1 […]
Wiley to Buy Knewton
Just days after the Cengage and McGraw-Hill merger announcement, Wiley announced a deal to buy the assets of ed-tech firm Knewton, in a transaction expected to close by the end of the month. The price was not disclosed — though Knewton was reportedly being offered at a “fire sale” price, with EdSurge saying, “There were other buyers bidding for Knewton’s assets, with the transaction prices discussed in the $10 million range.” One of the first big ed-tech companies, New York-based Knewton had raised over $180 in funding. “No industry analyst we spoke with believes the sale price was anywhere near […]
Lagardere Sales Up in Q1, Boosted by the Strengthening Dollar
Lagardere reported Q1 earnings Tuesday, with sales of €460 million in the book division, up €18 million compared to the same period last year. The strengthening US dollar contributed €12 million of the gain, however, and the purchase of Worthy Publishing added €2 million. Lagardere reports that the US business “delivered solid growth” (up 3.3 percent like for like), thanks to “good momentum” in digital audio books. Companywide, digital audio comprised 3.8 percent of sales, up from 2.5 percent a year ago, over 50 percent higher. France also saw “good momentum,” up 1.9 percent like for like, while the UK […]