Catching up a little, Bonnier Group announced their 2018 results in February, with net sales of SEK 26.4 billion for the year ($2.85 billion), up from SEK 25.7 billion in 2017. EBITA grew to SEK 824 million ($89 million) from SEK 625 million in 2017, reversing two years of declines but still not rising to 2015 levels, when EBITA was SEK 1 billion. “The year’s financial results for our media companies show a welcome improvement, but profitability overall is still at a very modest level,” said Bonnier Group CEO Erik Haegerstrand. Their book publishing lines grew in sales and started […]
HMH Stock Drops Sharply on Earnings Report
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported full year and 4th quarter earnings for 2018 Thursday morning — and despite closing sales ahead of expectations, and within the company’s 2018 guidance, the market reacted sharply. Shares were down more than 11 percent in the first hour of trading, with a higher-than-expected fourth quarter loss from continuing operations and a looming refinancing of their big debt load. Net sales for the year from continuing operations (given the fall sale of the Riverside Assessments division) were just below flat, to $1.32 billion from $1.33 billion in 2017; the $24 million sales decrease in the company’s […]
Pearson Reports Overall Decline as Expected, With Better “Underlying” PRH Profit
In line with their muted January “trading update,” Pearson released its full 2018 results, reinforcing the continuing trend: Their major division, the US higher education courseware business, continues to decline as they continue its “digital transformation,” weighing down stable performance in the rest of the company’s continuing operations. Sales were £4.13 billion, down from £4.51 billion in 2017, with underlying sales down 1 percent. As indicated in January, to the surprise of analysts, US higher ed sales fell 5 percent. Adjusted operating profit was £546m for 2018, in the upper half of their guidance. As for Penguin Random House, in which […]
Quad’s LSC Acquisition Moving Forward on Schedule
Quad held its Q4 2018 earnings call February 20, reporting pro-forma net sales of $4.3 billion for the full year — of which only 6 percent was from its book printing business. While it didn’t break out a dollar value, that would indicate books comprise $258 million in revenue, a figure that will grow dramatically when the company completes its planned acquisition of primary competitor LSC Communications, which reported $1.02 billion in book sales in 2017. The company reports that acquisition remains on track for completion mid-2019. The regulatory process “is as expected…we’ve been doing the work to respond to […]
Lagardere Publishing Reports Good Finish, But Slight Decline for 2018
Lagardere Publishing reported fourth quarter and full-year sales results on Thursday (and, in the European tradition, will not report earnings and complete 2018 details until March). Fourth quarter publishing sales of €645 million were €21 million higher than a year ago, with €10 million of that gain coming from recent acquisitions (Worthy Publishing, Kyle Cathie, Jessica Kingsley and Summersdale). But that was not enough to avoid a decline in full year sales, at €2.252 billion, €37 million lower than a year ago. Acquisitions added €30 million during the year, but foreign exchange — “mainly” a softening US dollar — reduced […]
Indigo Q3 Sales Flat But Earnings Down 50% During Challenging Period
Indigo reported third quarter revenue just below flat for the 13 weeks ending December 29, 2018, with sales of $426 (CA) million compared to $433.3 million for the same period last year, a decrease of 1.7 percent. Comparable superstore sales were flat, with small format store comps up 2.8 percent, as online sales declined by $1.5 million, to $75 million overall. The company billed the results as “satisfying” given the challenges during and leading into the period: A strike at Canada Post, a delayed renovation schedule, the closure of two low-performing stores, an increase in the minimum wage, plus an accounting […]