Today is Bertelsmann’s turn for a brief, European-style third quarter trading update, with no breakouts by division. If you strip out the recent quarter by itself, sales of 3.575 billion euros were up 3%, and operating EBIT of 355 million euros was up 36 million euros, or 11 percent. For the year-so-far, sales are up slightly, and operating EBIT is down a little, with both of those categories performing better in the third quarter than earlier in the year. Release In the UK, WH Smith said in a brief update of their own that High Store sales declined 5 percent […]
Earnings Reports
Hachette Book Sales Fall 8 Percent In US; 10 Percent in UK
Lagardere reported third-quarter results, with revenues at their book publishing division falling 5.2 percent overall (and 2.5 percent on a like-for-like basis), down 33 million euros to 601 million euros for the period. Sales at Hachette Book Group in the US fell 8 percent and sales at Hachette UK declined 10 percent, “due mainly to the impact of e-books (which result in lower sales but higher margins), as well as the difficulties of certain retailers” liquidating. For the full nine months so far of the current fiscal year, ebooks comprised 21 percent of sales in the US and 9 percent […]
Sales and Profits Up For Simon & Schuster in Third Quarter
CBS reported second quarter earnings after the close of the market on Tuesday, with Simon & Schuster recording a 1 percent increase in sales, up $2 million to $220 million, and a sharper increase in profits. Adjusted OIBDA rose $6 million (or 19 percent) to $38 million, and adjusted operating income also rose $6 million, at $30 million. The company said that “strong growth in the sale of more profitable digital content was offset by lower print book sales,” indicating that improved profits were “driven by lower direct operating costs, including expense decreases resulting from the significant increase in more […]
Penguin Earnings Stay Flat in Q3
Pearson provided a third-quarter trading statement that, per the British tradition, is scant on data. Overall sales for the fiscal year so far are up by 6 percent and operating profit increased by 13 percent on the basis of “strong competitive performances in generally weak market conditions, benefiting from premium content and services, digital innovation and presence in developing economies.” At Penguin “sales were level with 2010” which is probably comparable to where they were when they reported more extensive results for the first half of the fiscal year. (Then, “underlying” sales were flat, and margins were up.) The publisher […]
Harper Says Revenue and Profit Increased In First Quarter
News Corp. reported first quarter earnings after the close of the market on Wednesday, and once again, per the company’s changed standard, there was no specific mention of either HarperCollins or book publishing. The larger publishing division–which is dominated by the company’s newspapers– suffered as a result of the closing of News of the World, as segment operating income dropped $68 million from the previous year, though sales still rose $23 million compared to the same period a year ago. In a subsequent statement Harper reported they had “a great quarter, with an increase in revenue and profit over last […]
Harlequin Print Sales Slow As Digital Continues to Climb in Third Quarter
Harlequin’s parent company Torstar reported third quarter results Wednesday for the period ending September 30. The book publishing unit had sales of $115.7 million (CA), down slightly by $1.8 million, (or less than 1 percent), largely due to foreign exchange rates but buffered by the benefits of the other half of Harlequin’s German business at the beginning of the second quarter of 2010, to the tune of $700,000. EBITDA was up for the third quarter by $600,000 (or 2.4 percent) to $24.8 million, with, as always, “digital revenue growth more than offsetting declines in print retail and direct-to-consumer revenues.” Those […]