Pearson issued a brief third quarter trading update, reporting “underlying” sales growth of 4 percent in the period, looking forward to “stronger Q4 sales growth…given known business unit dynamics.” Higher Ed sales were down 1 percent in the quarter, “due to ongoing challenging trading conditions in mature markets.” US Higher Ed sales rose 2 percent in the quarter, helped by “sustained engagement with our AI-powered study tools, partly offset by declines in our K-12 channel. In the Higher Ed segement, the company said, “We continue to expect sales growth in 2025 to be higher than in 2024 as we […]
Earnings Reports
Lagardere Publishing Has Record Third-Quarter Sales, As HBG Moves Up in the US
Lagardere Publishing issued their brief third quarter trading update on Thursday afternoon, celebrating record third quarter sales of €811 million, up 6 percent compared to €765 million for the same period a year ago. The company reports that, “All business segments contributed to the growth effort, with General Literature enjoying very good performances in the United States and France.” The acquisition of Union Square (and 999 Games) added €15 million in the quarter, while the declining US dollar and British pound cost €19 million in negative currency effect. In the US, ceo David Shelley reports that, “HBG had a fantastic […]
Scholastic Reports Soft First Quarter
Scholastic announced results for the first quarter ended August 31–a typically softer period–with $226 million in sales, down 5 percent. The operating loss was down 4 percent to $(92.2) million, as expected, and the loss excluding one-time items improved by 4 percent to $(81.9) million. In the Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment, sales gained 4 percent to $109 million. Trade sales were almost flat at $73.5 million. School Reading Events sales were up 14 percent to $36 million, with $34 million in Book Fairs (up 18 percent due to the redemption of rewards at the fairs) and $1.8 million […]
Wiley Sales Dip in Q1
Wiley announced earnings for the first quarter ended July 31, with sales down 2 percent to $397 million, again due to lost revenue from their divested businesses. Operating income grew 7 percent to $31 million and income before taxes was $18 million, compared to $23 million last year. Wiley has continued to partner with AI companies, including a deal with Anthropic that was announced in July. They also said that they executed a $20 million AI licensing project with an unnamed “large tech company…on behalf of publisher partners” and now have deals with three of the world’s largest tech companies […]
Profits Fall At Penguin Random House Due to “Rising Costs”
Bertelsmann reported results for the first half of 2025 on Thursday morning, with sales at Penguin Random House of €2.322 billion up €46 million, or 2 percent, lifted by the company’s continuing acquisitions. Operating EBITDA fell €36 million, down to €255 million, “primarily due to lower revenues and growth-related expenses in the core US business” according to the company. In a note to employees, PRH ceo Nihar Malaviya wrote that, “our overall profitability is under pressure, declining 12%…due to rising costs in nearly all areas of our business.” In the US. Hay House, acquired in 2024, “was able to fully […]
WH Smith Stock Plunges Following Disclosure of Accounting Error
Shares in travel retailer WH Smith plunged over 42 percent in Thursday trading after the company disclosed an accounting error found while preparing results for their fiscal year ending August 31. They said there was “an overstatement of around £30 million” of expected profit from their North American division, “largely due to the accelerated recognition of supplier income.” Company full-year pre-tax profit is now expected to be “in the region of £110 million” as a result. The North American division was previously expected to have profit of £55 million on its own, now likely to be £25 million instead. They […]