As speculation mounts over whether minority stakeholder Alexander Mamut will buy Waterstone’s, the chain’s parent company HMV warned investors this morning that it expects to violate banking covenants as a result of full-year profits falling below expectations. While HMV said it was in talks with lenders to amend its credit loan agreements, which remain available, chief executive Simon Fox admitted in a statement that “trading conditions remain tough, reflecting a difficult consumer environment as well as the changing markets in which we operate.” He added that HMV “is adapting quickly to respond to these external factors, and we are confident […]
Earnings Reports
Penguin Gains, As Margin Moves to 10 Percent
Pearson delivered the strong results for 2010 that they have been predicting, as Penguin “achieved record sales and profits in a challenging and rapidly-changing industry environment.” The trade publishing division had sales of 1.053 billion pounds (up 5 percent from a year ago, and 2 percent on a constant-exchange-basis) and profits grew even more, at 106 million pounds up 26 percent from a year ago. And those margins “were struck after making additional provisions for a number of credit exposures in the book retailing sector, including in relation to Borders in the US.” eBook sales were 6 percent of Penguin’s […]
Bloomsbury USA’s eBook Sales Jump to 40 Percent
Though Bloomsbury reported results for 2010 this morning, the company’s biggest news come informally out of Bloomsbury USA, where according to executive Evan Schnittman ebook sales jumped to comprise 40 percent of net sales in January 2011, up from 15 percent in December 2010. (That’s consistent with a recent report from Sourcebooks, in which they said their January ebook sales also jumped to 35 percent of sales.) Rising ebook sales and a Booker winner on the list helped Bloomsbury USA reach its “best performance ever,” with sales of 19.1 million pounds–up just 1.6 percent–but profit of 1.3 million pounds, up […]
Briefs: Quarto Annual Sales Rise; Hay House to Make Their Own Vooks; Planeta Acquires Bertrand; Gardners To Sell Direct to Consumers; and More
Quarto reported an 8 percent rise in adjusted pre-tax profit for the year to December to £7.4m from £6.9m, and a 7 percent jump in revenue to £113.8m from £106.6m. Its publishing division revenue increased 7 percent to £75.1m. Quarto cited “continued focus on developing markets, in particular Brazil and China, and improved trading in the UK and Australasia” for the revenue and profit gains. Release Hay House has become the first publisher to sign on to use Vook’s engine for creating enhanced ebooks at scale (called MotherVook). The product “converts disparate and varied file formats; combines text, video and […]
Lagardere Improves In Fourth Quarter, Down 4 Percent (Against Big Meyer Comp)
The slide in Lagardere Publishing’s results compared to last year’s record Stephenie Meyer-driven performance eased in their fourth quarter, with sales of 556 million euros down 4.1 percent from 580 million euros a year ago. The company says “new best-sellers helped to improve the trend line in the United States and the United Kingdom compared with the first nine months,” even though HBG USA declined 14 percent in the fourth quarter due to more modest Meyer sales. (They say books from Jon Stewart, Keith Richards and Chelsea Handler helped to balance out that decline.) Hachette UK was down 7 percent in […]
Sales Grow But Indigo Profits Still Drop in Third Quarter
Third-quarter performance at Canada’s retailing giant Indigo looks reminiscent of Barnes & Noble’s trajectory, with ebooks, ereaders and online sales helping to lift sales while also weighing on expenses. Indigo’s revenues rose 14 percent to $387.6 million (CA), beating projections, but net profit of $30.2 million (or C$1.19 a share) was $4 million lower than a year ago, which was less than analysts expected. Superstore comps increased 2.6 per cent while smaller-store comps dropped 0.8 percent from last year’s levels, and the company’s online division was up 6.5 percent from a year ago. As with the previous quarter, digital investments […]