Bertelsmann has finally made good on changing the company’s overall legal structure to SE & Co. KGaA, which is often used for businesses with a family-style ownership and structure, from AG (a privately-owned joint stock company.) In a brief announcement Bertelsmann stressed the change was an “identity-preserving change of legal form” which won’t change their ownership structure and corporate structure, or anything for the company’s employees. But it could make it possible for Bertelsmann to raise capital by issuing shares to the public, without giving those public shareholders any meaningful control in how the company is run. Back in March […]
Earnings Reports
Barnes & Noble Q1 Earnings Boosted By Retail, But Nook Losses Widen
Barnes & Noble did something they haven’t done for a while in their just-reported fiscal first quarter: They actually exceeded analysts’ pessimistic earnings expectations, with a reduced net loss of 78 cents per share (or $41 million), versus the predicted 96 cents a share. And they showed positive EBIDTA for the quarter–just $4 million, but much better than a $24 million loss a year ago. Also, actual bookstore book sales continued to improve, despite a forecast last quarter that those comps would decline in fiscal 2013. But that’s about it for the good news. The bad news is that the […]
Quarto Exceeds “Expectations” In First Part of “A Difficult Year”
The Quarto Group reported interim results for the first half of the year as “performance exceeded expectations,” according to chairman and ceo Laurence Orbach, “a good achievement given the challenging economic environment globally.” But looking forward they have a “cloudy outlook” and Orbach says “we know that this is already a difficult year and, in the short term, is likely to remain that way.” Sales rose only 1 percent, to $73.2 million (reflecting underlying softness, given the acquisition of Frances Lincoln last August), with adjusted EBITDA of $13.8 million also up 1 percent and operating profit of $2.9 million, up […]
Indigo First Quarter Sales Dip But Loses Less Money
For their fiscal first quarter ending June 30, Indigo reported sales from continuing operations of C$186.5 million, down 1.8 percent from a year ago, with a net loss of C$5.5 million, significantly less than the $12 million the company lost a year ago. The revenue drop was primarily “driven by lower Kobo eReader sales when compared to the strong launch of the Kobo Touch in the same period last year” and by Indigo closing 8 stores over the past year. The narrowed net loss came about thanks to “improvements in net margins and lower operating expenses” and no longer having […]
Harper Reports “Strong” Fourth Quarter, Takes eBook Settlement Charge
News Corp. reported fourth quarter earnings after the close of the market Wednesday. As usual, the release says almost nothing about their book publishing results and does not mention Harper by name, though the newspaper-dominated “publishing” division saw operating income fall almost in half, at $139 million for the quarter compared to $270 million a year ago. The publishing results “reflect a litigation settlement charge related to sales of e-books,” but the report does not disclose the amount. Part of the $131 million drop in publishing income is due to “a $57 million charge related to the costs of the ongoing investigations […]
Modest Sales Gain For S&S As Legal Settlement Reduces Q2 Profits
CBS reported second quarter earnings after the close of the market on Thursday, with Simon & Schuster recording sales of $189 million, up 3 percent (or $6 million) as compared to a year ago. The sales increase reflected “continued growth in digital book sales, partially offset by lower print book sales.” (Close observers–like us–will note this is a subtle variation on the line that CBS has repeated three times over the past year: “strong growth in the sale of more profitable digital content was offset by lower print book sales” is what they have said in the past.) OIBDA, however, declined sharply […]