News Corp. reported fiscal second quarter sales through December 31, 2021 after the close of the market on Thursday, with HarperCollins recorded sales of $617 million. Sales were up $73 million compared to a year ago, but $50 million of that came from the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt trade acquisition. The $23 million organic growth at Harper comprised a 4.2 percent gain, their softest increase over the six straight quarters of gains. HMH on its own declined compared to a year ago. At HMH Books & Media, for which the company has been exploring a sale since November, sales for the […]
Earnings Reports
Bloomsbury Increases Full-Year Guidance
Bloomsbury released a brief trading update ahead of the end of their fiscal year on February 28. The company said “revenue is expected to be comfortably ahead and profit materially ahead of market expectations.” (Analysts’ expectations were £197.1 million in revenue and £20.1 million in profit before taxes and highlighted items.) Both adult and children’s trade publishing were “strong.” They expect further growth from the £17.3 million acquisition of ABC-CLIO, which was completed in December.
Pearson Sales Up 8 Percent for 2021; WH Smith End-of-Year Meets Expectations
Pearson announced their year-end trading report featuring sales highlights for 2021 (the full year-end report will be available on February 25), with results “ahead of expectations.” Group sales rose 8 percent overall, led by everything that isn’t actual education publishing: Assessment & Qualifications (18 percent), English Language Learning (17 percent), Virtual Learning (11 percent) and Workforce Skills (6 percent), due to Covid recovery and growth in virtual learning enrollment in the 2020-21 school year. The Higher Education segment remained weak, down (5) percent, attributed to a decline in US courseware. That line fell 12 percent in both 2020 and 2019. […]
Storytel Full-Year Revenues Up 20 Percent
Storytel reported fourth quarter results, with streaming revenues of 605 MSEK, up from 503 MSEK in the fourth quarter 2020. For the full year, revenues were 2,251 MSEK, up 20 percent from 2020, in line with it forecast. Paying subscribers grew 22 percent, to 1.81 million for the year. For the Nordic segment, the average number of paying subscribers was 1,047,900 in the quarter, with streaming revenues of 459 MSEK. Non-Nordic streaming revenues were up 41 percent in the quarter to 146 MSEK. The average number of paying subscribers was 736,700, up 43 percent from the same quarter last year. […]
Corporate: Lagardere Publishing Raises Profit Expectations, and More
Following “decade high” earnings in the first half of the year, Lagardere Publishing said in a release that the division’s “strong sales momentum and product mix” will raise profits “in a more favorable manner than anticipated in the context of the health crisis.” They now expect full-year operating margin of “around 13.5 percent” for the year, up from a previous expectation of 12 percent. For comparison, in 2020 they had operating margin of 10.3 percent, with recurring EBIT of €246 million on sales of €2.384 billion. Through the first nine months of 2021 publishing sales were up 9 percent; if […]
Scholastic’s Q2 Sales Improve with Resumed Book Fairs, Reckon with Higher Costs
Scholastic reported earnings for the fiscal second quarter ended November 30, with sales of $524 million, rebounding $118 million or 29 percent from a year ago. The gain still leaves them short of pre-COVID levels, with sales of $597.2 in 2019 and $604.7 million in 2018. In-person school book fairs resumed at about 70 percent of pre-pandemic levels and the company said those earnings exceeded expectations, with higher sales of educational materials as well, as students returned to school. The operating profit excluding one-time items was $84 million, up from $54 million last year (2019: $105 million; 2018: $98 million), […]