Swedish audiobook subscription service Storytel announced earnings for the third quarter ended September 30, with net sales of SEK609 million ($70.6 million), up from SEK491 million in last year’s period. Streaming sales were SEK490 million, up from SEK 399 million, or 23 percent. The company averaged 1.36 million paying subscribers in the quarter, up 34 percent from 1.014 million. Both streaming sales and subscribers exceeded the company’s forecasts for the quarter. The company also announced positive EBITDA for the first ime, of SEK7 million, but cautions that it was due to an accounting change and won’t be a trend: “since […]
Booksellers
Indigo Reports Second Quarter Growth, As Online Gains Outweigh Store Declines
Canada’s Indigo Books reported sales for the fiscal 2021 second quarter ended September 26, at $205.3 million (CA), up from $203.4 million in the same period last year, an increase of $1.9 million. Net loss was $(17.5) million, slightly improved from a loss of $(20.5) million last year. The key was that pandemic-driven online sales remained more than twice as high as they were a year ago, at $63 million — up 113 percent over the $29.5 million a year ago — which made up for the $32.7 million (19.3 percent) decline at their physical stores, which registered $136.8 million […]
People, Etc.
Emma Berry joins Basic Books and Seal Press on November 16 as senior editor. Most recently, she was editor at Crown. Karen Edwards has been promoted to executive editor for the Workman imprint. John Passineau has joined the Workman children’s team as a senior designer. Previously, he was a freelance designer. Rebecca Davis has been promoted to editorial director of Boyds Mills Press/Wordsong. Carolyn P. Yoder becomes executive editor of Calkins Creek. Daniella Cohen has been promoted to associate agent at Aevitas Creative Management. Jordan Koluch has been promoted to copy chief at Catapult, Counterpoint, Soft Skull Press. On the Simon […]
Barnes & Noble Education Posts Another Steep Decline
Barnes & Noble Education reported earnings for the first fiscal quarter of 2021 ending August 1, with sales of $204 million, compared to $320 million in last year’s quarter, a decline of 36 percent. The net loss steepened to $(46.7) million, compared to $(32.2) million last year. With the majority of campus bookstores closed all quarter, retail sales decreased by $116 million compared to the prior year, with comparable store sales of approximately $107 million, down 42.8 percent. “Physical textbook sales declines were partially mitigated by the shift to digital textbook products,” said the release. Meanwhile, furloughs and other cost […]
Barnes & Noble Education Is Finished Considering A Sale
After a lengthy investigation that started last December following “a number of unsolicited inquiries,” the Barnes & Noble Education board has once again found that it is doing a terrific job and has formally ended any consideration of a sale. “An exhaustive strategic review was undertaken and completed,” the release says. Fortunately, “At the same time, the company also made significant progress towards implementing and executing its digital transformation strategy, which further enhanced the company’s importance and relevance to its customers, particularly given the post-COVID-19 shift to remote learning.” Independent director Vice Admiral John R. Ryan says in the announcement, […]
Indigo Sales Fell 30 Percent
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 […]