Earnings Reports

After a year of record profits, Simon & Schuster continued to maintain strong margins, even with declining sales, in the first quarter of 2014. Sales fell 11 percent to $153 million (down $18 million), but OIBDA was up 8 percent (or $1 million) to $13 million. Parent company CBS said that sales a year ago had “benefited from the continued success of fourth quarter 2012 releases,” though even in that quarter sales were down 3 percent from the first quarter of 2012. As CEO Carolyn Reidy told us plainly, “we didn’t have as many strong books as we did the […]

HarperCollins reported their fiscal third quarter, ending March 31, with sales rising 14 percent to $354 million and EBITDA gaining even more, nearly doubling to $53 million (compared to sales of $311 million and EBITDA of $29 million a year ago). As noted in the previous quarter, the company cited “the higher contribution to profits from ebooks and ongoing operational efficiencies coupled with higher revenues” for the strong earnings. Veronica Roth’s Divergent series continued to bolster sales, accounting for 8 million net units for the quarter. eBook revenues represented 26 percent of overall sales for the quarter, up 46 percent from a […]

Sales fell at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in the first quarter of 2014, primarily because of an $8 million decline in the trade division, which had strong movie tie-in sales for The Hobbit and Life of Pi in 2013, but also because of “book store sales declines attributable to the severe winter weather conditions across the country.” As a result, the trade division recorded a net loss of $5.2 milion, and adjusted EBITDA of a loss of $1.3 million — compared to an EBITDA gain of $6.7 million a year go. Trade sales were $32 million for the period. Companywide, HMH […]

In the traditionally modest European quarterly trading update style, Bertelsmann reported sales of 3.9 billion euros (up 8.5 percent from a year ago) and operating EBIT from continuing operations of 256 million euros (down 36 percent). CEO Thomas Rabe said in the release: “Our operating performance is good, and last year’s major transactions are paying off. We invested heavily in our content and services businesses in the first three months of 2014 and have made significant progress in putting our strategy into action.” Rabe also reiterated plans to invest in education, adding: “In the long-term, this sector will become a […]

Torstar reported first quarter results Wednesday morning, with Harlequin recording slightly lower sales and significantly lower profits compared to a year ago. Sales of $99 million (CA) were down $3.3 million or 3 percent, while operating earnings of $12.8 million fell more, down $4.3 million, a 25 percent drop from a year ago. But the company says, “Harlequin anticipated that earnings would be lower in the first quarter of 2014 relative to the very strong results posted in the first quarter of 2013 which represented the strongest quarter of 2013.” That contextualization is strange, however, if you actually look at […]

Amazon reported first quarter sales after the close of the market on Thursday, with sales of $19.74 billion (up 23 percent) and net income of $108 million, or 23 cents a share, both almost exactly in line with analysts’ expectations. Amazon’s stock rose by $13 a share Thursday in anticipation of the report, but the price has given back much more, down $32 a share and still falling, in early trading on Friday. (Amazon shares hit an all-time high of about $408 a share in January, but with the market rotating out of “momentum” and high-value tech stocks, it now […]