Perseus Books Group ceo David Steinberger issued his annual letter to employees, “reflect[ing] on a fiscal year of hard work and impressive results.” The privately-held company (which therefore does not release actual figures) “generated strong financial results” in their fiscal year, ending June 30. On the overall environment, Steinberger writes: “We continue to live and work in a time of global opportunity, technological revolutions, and economic uncertainty. The evolution and transformation of our industry in particular has been and will continue to be a significant challenge as evidenced by the recent collapse of Borders. The current economic climate is very challenging […]
Earnings Reports
Briefs: Amazon Lights a “Kindle Fire” Under Its Tablet; Quercus Sales Fall From Larsson Ebb; and More
Multiple reports (including this one from TechCrunch) indicate that Amazon’s tablet, which will be formally introduced at an event Wednesday morning, will be called the Kindle Fire, and will not be ready to ship until the second week of November. For the first six months of 2011, Quercus reported sales of 12 million pounds, down 20 percent from a year ago (largely due to a natural ebb in Stieg Larsson volume sales, which had boosted Quercus’s bottom line significantly for the past few years) though profits rose slightly to 3.4 million pounds during the same time frame. The cost of […]
Scholastic Sales Rise, As Cost Reduction Efforts Continue
Sales rose at Scholastic in their fiscal 2012 first quarter, ending August 31, up 9.5 percent at $318 million. Their seasonal operating loss was $33.2 million (or 81 cents a share), an improvement from a loss of $46.3 million a year ago. Both results were well ahead of analysts’ estimates, with expectations of a loss of over a dollar a share and sales of $302 million. The company announced a voluntary retirement program, which will cost approximately $10 million to $15 million in one-time charges, as part of a broader initiative to “reduce costs in non-digital areas by approximately $15 […]
Corporate Briefs: BN, BAMM, and Pearson
In their quarterly SEC filing, Barnes & Noble addressed the would-be class action suit filed in New York last month that includes the bookseller and Amazon along with Apple and the six largest trade publishers, alleging price fixing and conspiracy with respect to the agency model for ebooks. “The company denies liability and intends to vigorously defend its interests.” Books-a-Million filed their quarterly report as well, which confirms the continuing merchandise shift underway at physical stores. Books and magazines now comprise 75.6 percent of sales, down from over 80 percent a year ago. The largest growth area, no surprise, is […]
Digital Lifts Trade Profits At Wiley
John Wiley reported fiscal first quarter results, with sales of $430 million and adjusted operating income of $60 million. On a topline basis, both sales and adjusted earnings per share rose 5 percent, though those gains were almost entirely due to foreign exchange. On a currency-neutral basis, sales were slightly better than flat but adjusted earnings per share declined 3 percent. Sales were slightly better than analysts were expecting, but adjusted earnings per share of 68 cents fell short of projections of 75 a share (it’s a little tricky, however, since after special tax benefits earnings per share came in […]
Hachette Results Fall On Meyer Comps, As eBooks Reach 20 Percent
Lagardere reported sales for the first half of the year, with Lagardere Publishing recording declines in both sales and profits. Sales of 900 million euros were down 7.7 percent on a reported basis, and 6 percent on a like-for-like basis, compared to 975 million euros a year ago. Similarly, EBIT declined to 71 million euros, down from 101 million euros a year ago. But the company says that “when stripping out the Stephenie Meyer phenomenon, net sales were stable in the US and in the UK” and they “anticipate that the division will resume growth and profitability” in the second […]