News Corp announced results for the second quarter ended December 31, reporting sales at Harper Collins of $595 million, up 8 percent. On a call with investors, News Corp ceo Robert Thomson attributed the growth to Bible sales and strong performance from Harper Collins UK. Top titles in the quarter included Cher’s memoir, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked, and Laurie Gilmore’s The Pumpkin Spice Café. EBITDA grew 19 percent to $101 million due to the increase in overall sales in print and digital, “partially offset by higher manufacturing costs due to higher sales volume and higher employee costs.” The company reports that […]
Earnings Reports
Bookstore Sales Fall at WH Smith as the Company Looks to Sell
WH Smith offered a brief trading update for the 21 weeks ended January 25. Sales for the high street business — which the company is looking to sell — were down 6 percent in the period, or down 3 percent on a “like-for-like” basis at constant currency, “in line with expectations.” They expect to save £11 million in costs for the full year within the segment. The travel business delivered a 7 percent increase in sales, or 6 percent like-for-like. Sales at the company overall rose 3 percent in the period.
Waterstones Results Improve
Waterstones filed a report for its fiscal year ending April 27, 2024 with the UK’s Companies House, reporting increased sales following the full integration of results from the acquired Blackwells and Foyles into their results. Sales were £528 million, up from £453 million the prior year, and operating profit rebounded to £43.8 million, up from £13.9 million. The previous year they suffered from “disruptions to the distribution center, caused by the implementation of a new warehouse management system.” As of the end of the previous fiscal year, the company was in the process of refinancing a £77.9 million term loan […]
Pearson to Release AI Skill-Building Tools with Microsoft
Pearson released a brief trading update for the fourth quarter and the full year 2024, and announced an AI partnership with Microsoft. Pearson and Microsoft will release a series of educational tools designed to help people build AI skills “through new AI credentials and certifications.” The companies will also collaborate on a series of AI tools to build workforce skills and learn the English language. Pearson will also expand their use of Microsoft’s AI Copilot tool “across its workforce.” They say in a release, “This is part of an ongoing effort to introduce workplace AI tools that enhance efficiency, creativity, […]
2024: The Year in Finance
It surprises some people, but trade publishing sales have been good this year. Really. Dollar sales, as measured by the AAP, grew 5.8 percent in the first 10 months of 2024. Adult fiction remained particularly strong, helped by big sales for Sarah J. Maas (who moved 8.8 million print units alone) and the rapid rise of Freida McFadden (who sold roughly 5.3 million print units). The arrival of Spotify drove significant growth in audiobook sales—which have outpaced ebooks sales for the year so far for the first time ever. And the big publicly-reporting publishing companies boosted the topline with acquisitions […]
Scholastic Institutes Layoffs As Sales Fall in Q2
Scholastic reported financial results for the second quarter ended November 30, with sales of $545 million, down 3 percent, an expected outcome due to the timing of the company’s big book publications. Operating income dropped 26 percent to $74.4 million with adjusted EBITDA down 12 percent to $108.7 million due to lower sales in the children’s publishing and distribution and education solutions segments. In Children’s Publishing and Distribution, sales were down 6 percent to $367 million with operating income down 9 percent to $102.1 million. Trade books sold $103 in the quarter, down 13 percent, due to lower frontlist sales […]