Hastings reported third quarter sales of $94.7 million, down 6.6 percent, with 10 fewer superstores than the same period a year ago. Book sales declined 11.7 percent in the quarter, which the company blamed on “a weaker release schedule for new books and a decrease in trade paperback sales,” particularly given the effect of Fifty Shades a year ago as well as (when sales were only 1.4 percent in the same quarter). Books are down 11.8 percent for the year so far as well. At Courier Corporation, fourth-quarter sales rose 9 percent to $84 million and net income rose as […]
Earnings Reports
Sales Rise At HBG US, But Decline Across Lagardere Publishing
At Lagardere, sales at the book publishing division fell 46 million euros in the third quarter, down 7.4 percent overall (and 4.1 percent on a currency neutral, like-for-like business). Results for their international portfolio were quite mixed. Sales at HBG USA were up 11 percent, “particularly with the success of Nicholas Sparks’ The Longest Ride.” But even with the second two volumes of the Fifty Shades trilogy and Dan Brown’s Inferno, their big French division suffered large drops in both “general literature” and education. The education segment remained weak in Spain as well, were sales declined modestly. The UK group […]
At Harper, Sales Fall But Profits Rise
News Corp. reported its first fiscal quarter in its new incarnation as spin-off public company. At HarperCollins, sales of $328 million were down $24 million (7 percent) from a year ago, but EBITDA rose $3 million (or 7.5 percent) to $43 million, on “the higher contribution to profits from e-books and ongoing operational efficiencies.” eBooks comprised 22 percent of sales, up 30 percent from the same quarter a year ago. The company said “improved e-book sales were more than offset by the divestiture of [Thomas Nelson’s] Women of Faith live events business, the decision to exit the third party distribution business […]
Record Earnings for Simon & Schuster
With regular sales relationships re-established with Barnes & Noble in August, Simon & Schuster turned in a strong third quarter. Sales of $224 million were up 7 percent from an unusually soft $210 million a year, and OIBDA hit a new third-quarter record high of $43 million, up from $39 million in 2012. Simon & Schuster ceo Carolyn Reidy notes that “we had a lot of wind behind our back going into the quarter” from a variety of established books (including the Cassandra Clare City of Bones movie tie-in) plus “some nice strong titles that did even better than we […]
Harlequin Continues To Slide
Canada’s Torstar reported results for the third quarter, with both sales and profits down again to book publisher Harlequin. Sales of $100.6 million (CA) were down $7.2 million (-6.7%) and operating profit of $13.3 million was $5.2 million lower than a year ago (-28%). The book unit has modest “restructuring and other charges” in the period of about $750,000. Digital comprised 25.2 percent of third quarter sales, compared to 20.3 percent a year ago, “largely reflecting growth in overseas digital revenues.” Looking forward, the company says “with revenues weaker than anticipated through the first nine months of the year, Harlequin’s […]
Sales Fall At Indigo, Which Suspends Dividend to Drive Store Renovations
Canada’s Indigo reported sales of $179 million for their fiscal second quarter (ending September 28), down 3.3 percent overall, and a bigger net loss of $10 million, compared to $4 million a year ago. Same-store superstore sales were down 2.8 percent, while comps at their smaller-format stores declined 8.2 percent. Modest online sales of $18.7 million were $600,000 higher than a year ago. The company says it is happily undergoing to a transition to a broader type of retailer. CEO Heather Reisman tells shareholders, “We have developed a bold vision to become a booklovers’ lifestyle company — optimizing our core […]