In what parent company Bertelsmann cited as a “difficult economic environment,” Random House reported 2009 fiscal year sales of â¬1.723 billion, up a mere 2 million euros from last year, with flat EBIT of â¬137 million. The company made up ground in the second half of the year to stay even, helped by sales of 8 million copies of Dan Brown’s The Lost Symbol in the US and the UK and 7 million copies of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy in the US and Germany. The company says that digital is their fastest-growing segment, with e-book sales tripling during the year, […]
Earnings Reports
Quarto's "Demanding Year" Produces Decent Results
Full-year sales at The Quarto Group fell 5 percent to £106.6 million. Adjusted operating profit dropped 10 percent to £10.2m, though reported pretax profit doubled from last year to £3.6m. The book publishing division had sales for the year of £70.1m, more or less flat compared to last year, and operating profit ahead by 7% at £6.7m. Their co-edition division took a bigger hit, as revenues fell 15% to £36.5m, and operating profit dropped 22% to £5m, with “much of the deterioration” blamed on Quarto’s publishing services unit in Hong Kong. Chairman Laurence Orbach, citing “decent results” borne out of […]
Q4, Full-Year Earnings Up at Hastings, but Book Comps Dip
Hastings Entertainment reported an increase in fourth-quarter earnings, with a net income of $9.1 million or $0.94 per share, compared to $4.1 million or $.41 per share in the corresponding period one year earlier. Total revenue for the quarter climbed 5.5 percent to $176.1 million, from $166.9 million a year earlier. For the twelve-month period, net earnings also rose to $6.9 million or $0.71 per share from $4.1 million or $0.39 per share in the previous year. revenues decreased 1.4% to $531.3 million from $538.7 million last year. Comparable store revenues for books, however, dropped 0.5% for the year ending […]
Comp Sales Down 6 Percent at BAMM
Fourth quarter sales at Books-A-Million fell 6 percent on a same-store basis and 4.6 percent overall at $157 million, but net income of $11.9 million was up more than 6 percent. For the full year sales of $509 million were down 1.3 percent, declining 3.8 on a same-store basis, and net income rose to $13.8 million. The board authorized another stock repurchasing program of up $5 million.
Wiley Rises In All Segments
Wiley reported third quarter sales of $427 million this morning, a 14 percent increase driven in large part by currency gains (up 5 percent excluding foreign exchange). Operating income of $68.3 million was up eight percent, while adjusted net income of 71 cents a share was up 25 percent. Though the results are strong, analysts were anticipating earnings of 74 cents a share. The professional/trade division grew 10 percent at $107 million for the quarter, up 7 percent on a currency neutral basis. The company says “sales growth was strong in all regions, especially the U.S., where the holiday season […]
50 Million Meyer Books Drive Lagardere Publishing's Profits
Having already reported sales for 2009, Lagardere just reported their profits as well as part of their more formal fiscal report. The publishing division recorded of recurring EBIT of 301 million euros (on sales of 2.273 million euros), up 24 percent from last year. “The majority of the year-on-year increase of 58 million euros came from the United States, boosted by the success of the Stephenie Meyer saga,” for which they sold approximately 50 million copies in 2009 (after selling 35 million copies in 2008). In the US alone, they sold 33.6 million Meyer books in 2009. They also announced […]