Months after long-troubled Dorchester Publishing went into foreclosure with more than $2.9 million in outstanding debts to owner John Backe, it appears Amazon Publishing is in line to acquire the company’s backlist, contracts, and other intellectual property, according to a notice of public disposition issued on June 27 and first reported on by agent Richard Curtis. Potential bidders have until August 15 to submit competing offers and, should there be additional bidders, an auction will be held on August 28 at the offices of Garfunkel Wild in Great Neck, NY. Considering how long Dorchester’s assets have been up for grabs, […]
Earnings Reports
Fourth Quarter Sales and Profits Boosts Wiley’s Modest Overall Full-Year Earnings
Sales at Wiley rose 2 percent to $455 million in their fiscal fourth quarter and adjusted earnings rose 73 percent to 80 cents a share. For the full year, revenue was up 1 percent to $1.783 billion, while adjusted earnings rose 11 percent to $3.21 a share. (That amount excludes a 12 cents per share tax reserve release originally recorded as part of its Blackwell acquisition, and a 10 cents per share Borders writedown dating to the previous fiscal year.) In the professional/trade division, sales rose 4 percent to $114 million for the quarter (including $3.3 million of revenue from […]
Corporate: Indigo Q4 Sales Decline Despite One-Shot Kobo Earnings Gain; Flammarion Sale Negotiations Are Extended
Indigo reported sales of C$196 million for the fourth quarter ending March 31, down 2 percent from the previous year, while suffering an operating loss of C$15.7 million from continuing operations, higher than the C$13.7 million the company lost the previous year. But Indigo received a one-shot earnings gain of C$135.7 million from selling Kobo to Rakuten (booking a pre-tax gain of $165 million, presumably less operating losses from the unit). For the full fiscal year, Indigo revenues decreased 2.3 percent to C$934 million and the company reported net profits of C$66.2 million — of which C$94 million was attributed […]
Quercus Results Decline Over 20 Percent On Larsson Falloff
Quercus reported results for calendar year 2011, with the big dropoff in Stieg Larsson’s sales far bigger than the gains in other parts of their program. Total sales of £24,759 million were 22 percent lower than £31,784 million in 2010, and consolidated operating profit fell to £5,898 million, down from £7,635 million. Exemplifying how the announcement plays their results, the company contrasts the sales decline against the earnings by saying “however consolidated operating profit held up well”–yet it declined the same 22 percent. The biggest drops came in their core market of the UK, and non-core territories beyond the US […]
Sales Up, Losses Slimmer in Books-A-Million’s First Quarter
Books-A-Million reported first quarter earnings for the period ended April 28, and sales rose–up 10.5 percent (or $10.7 million)–to $113.1 million compared to a year ago, due to the expanded store base that now comprises 255 outlets. (Sales rose by about the same amount in the previous quarter as well.) It was also an easy comparison to what was a terrible first quarter a year ago, when sales had dropped from $117 million in early 2010. The company recorded a net loss of $1.9 million for the quarter, an improvement from the $3.4 million in losses a year ago (but […]
Digital Continues to Rise At Bloomsbury, Now 9 Percent of Overall Sales
Bloomsbury reported results for the fiscal year ending February 29, with total sales up 11.5 percent (£10.7 million) to £103.2 million and pre-tax profit up 53 percent to £12.1 million, as compared to £7.9 million a year ago. That number drops to £4.8 million when accounting for the sale of Bloomsbury’s German unit (which they now admit was a money-loser) and the acquisition of Continuum, as well as relocation and restructuring costs. (The company’s reporting returns to a normal 12-month fiscal year, after using a 14-month fiscal year for 2011 to account for various adjustments, which makes some of the […]