PPR Group, the parent of France’s largest bookselling chain Fnac, reported 2012 financial results. Fnac’s story has been similar to that of big booksellers in other major territories–sales have declined (though they are still substantial, in the billions of euros) and margins have fallen as well, and the owners have been looking for someone else to take over. Last year PPR tried to sell Fnac and following what the FT called “a dearth of buyers,” they decided to spin Fnac off as a separate, standalone public company. That plan will be presented to shareholders for approval at their annual meeting […]
Earnings Reports
S&S Finishes with Soft Sales But Growing Profits; Denies Sale Rumors
CBS reported fourth quarter earnings after the close of the market on Thursday, with Simon & Schuster recording a 6 percent decrease in sales, down $14 million to $215 million. Consistent with their recent pattern, however, profits rose even with lower sales. Adjusted OIBDA gained $3 million (or 11 percent) to $31 million, and adjusted operating income rose $2 million, at $27 million. S&S took a $3 million restructuring charge this quarter related to their realignment into new “publishing groups” and the elimination of some positions. (This time a year ago they took a $2 million charge.) As usual, CBS […]
Barnes & Noble Warns of Bigger Nook Loss, and Lower Sales than Projected
Barnes & Noble continues to suffer–but the pain is coming from their shiny new growth business that isn’t really growing that much. The company said after the close of the market on Wednesday that “based on current forecasts” it “now expects its fiscal year 2013 Nook segment EBITDA loss to be greater than it was in fiscal 2012 and expects fiscal year 2013 Nook Media revenues to be less than $3 billion.” Just over a month ago, when reporting lower than expected Nook sales, BN had reduced sales expectations for Nook Media (which combines Nook and BN College) to “approximately […]
McGraw-Hill Education Records $406 Million Loss On Writedowns In Advance of Sale
McGraw Hill reported results for the fourth quarter and full year Tuesday morning, providing further details on the sale of its education division to Apollo Global Management (which the company expects to close by the end of the first quarter of 2013.) Now counted one the side as “discontinued operations,” the Education division recorded a net loss of $406 million for the quarter and $239 million for the year. Adjusted net income from discontinued operations for the fourth quarter and full year were $9 million and $196 million, respectively. The losses were driven by a big writedown against the K-12 […]
At Lagardere, Sales Up Slightly for Fourth Quarter and Full Year, As US eBook Growth Drops Off
Lagardere reported fourth quarter and full-year sales (but in the European tradition, will not add complete performance information, including profits, until next month). The publishing division registered fourth quarter sales of 546 million euros, up 1.4 percent overall versus 537 million euros a year ago (and 556 million euros two years ago), but down 0.8 percent on a like-for-like basis. For the year, publishing sales of 2.077 billion euros were up 1.9 percent(but down 1.2 percent on a like-for-like basis, chalked up to foreign exchange issues.) Sales at Hachette Book Group USA fell 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter, compared to a 12.8 […]
Harper’s Performance Is Opaque Again
News Corp. reported second quarter earnings after the close of the market Wednesday and the company has resumed disclosing nothing in particular about HarperCollins. The publisher said in a brief statement they “had a favorable second quarter.” (The previous quarter was called “solid”; a year ago, the second quarter was judged “challenging.”) In Wednesday’s investor call, president and coo Chase Carey actually mentioned the book publisher, saying HarperCollins “made progress this year.” eBook sales worldwide comprised 14 percent of sales–down slightly from 15 percent in the previous quarter. In a separate memo Harper UK, which always accentuates the positive, said […]