News Corp. reported second quarter sales after the close of the market Wednesday. As in the past, the performance of HarperCollins is too modest to merit any mention in the earnings release. In the publishing segment, focused on newspapers, sales fell 9 percent and operating income dropped by 43 percent, blamed on “lower advertising revenues at the Australian newspapers and the integrated marketing services business” as well as the closure of The News of the World. In a brief statement, Harper said their best-performing units were Harper UK (publisher there of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones books) and Zondervan […]
Earnings Reports
HBG USA Rises, As Hachette UK Struggles
Hachette Book Group USA had a sharp turnaround in the fourth quarter, with sales rising 12.8 percent (after falling 8 percent in the prior quarter), riding a “powerful performance” and an easier comparison to a year ago, when Stephenie Meyer sales had declined. But Hachette UK continues to struggle, down 4.5 percent for the fourth quarter (after falling 10 percent in the third quarter). The company blamed “tougher international market conditions (REDgroup’s bankruptcy in Australia),” even with UK rights to the Steve Jobs biography. Lagardere’s publishing division reported overall fourth quarter sales of 537 million euros, down 3.4 percent overall […]
Amazon’s Fourth Quarter Sales Are $800 Million Below Expectations; NA Media Growth Falls to 8 Percent
In recent quarters Amazon’s sales have grown sharply while earnings have diminished as the company invested in increased capacity and growing their Kindle business. At the close of the market Tuesday, the company reported fourth quarter sales that will be viewed as a stumble by Wall Street: Their $17.43 billion in revenue is well below the $18.2 billion analysts were expecting, though in the middle of the company’s broad guidance, up 35.5 percent over a year ago. The stock headed south in after-hours trading on the sales shortfall, down almost 9 percent, and fell further in regular trading this morning, […]
Except for $76 Million In Charges to Fire 800 People, McGraw-Hill Ends 2011 On A Positive Note
McGraw Hill reported fourth quarter earnings Tuesday morning, with an abundance of measures of adjusted, diluted, continuing operations that seem designed to conjure victory from accounting and confuse reporters. The big excluded items are a $66 million restructuring charge related to severance for about 800 employees laid off during the quarter and another $10 million in “one-time separation expenses necessary to complete” the plan to split the company in half by the end of the new year. Adjusted net income from continuing operations–the measure Wall Street will look to, apparently (and one that excludes the $76 million in charges)–was $184 million, up […]
Corporate: Apple Sold 15.4 million iPads in First Quarter; Meredith Buys AllRecipes.com
Apple reported record earnings for the first quarter of its fiscal year, ending December 31, and beat Wall Street expectations so handily the stock was halted after hours Tuesday, rising more than $30 a share. The company sold 15.4 million iPads and 37 million iPhones during the quarter on net income of $13.1 billion, and $43.4 billion in revenue. Profits more than doubled compared to the first quarter of 2011. Apple sold over 40 million iPads in 2011, and has moved more than 55 million units since launching in early 2010. Release Though Random House was among the four reported […]
Briefs: Penguin’s “Strong Holiday As Pearson Ups Earnings Guidance; Grand Central’s New Digital Romance Imprint; and More
Pearson won’t report its preliminary annual earnings until February 27 but Thursday the company provided a short trading update indicating that for the year as a whole, Pearson generated approximately £2 billion in digital revenues and approximately £600m in revenues in emerging markets. They also expect to exceed their full year earnings guidance by 10 percent (with the original forecast being 83p per share), attributing the good news to “rapid growth in digital services, our expanding position in developing economies and the continuing transformation of our business portfolio.” Penguin’s results are said to be “strong” during the holidays, with expectations […]