WH Smith announced six month results for the period ended February 28, with High Street sales of £270 million, down 14 percent over the prior year, and profit of £33 million, compared to profit of £47 million last year. By the quarter, High Street sales were 88 percent of 2019 sales in Q1, 84 percent in Q2, and 87 percent in Q3 to date. The company called out High Street’s resilience and said the business was “well placed to continue to generate cash from its portfolio of well-located stores and growing internet businesses.” Reduced rents at lease renewal played an […]
Earnings Reports
Lagardere Publishing Shows Continued Boost from Lockdown Reading in Q1
Lagardere reported first quarter sales for the period ended March 31, with publishing sales of €509 million, up from €457 million, an 11.6 percent gain over the first quarter of 2020. Acquisitions — primarily the addition of Laurence King Publishing last September — added €6 million to sales, while currency exchange reduced sales by €17 million. The company attributed the strong performance to “successful editorial decisions in the various regions as well as by the increased appeal of reading among consumers during extended lockdowns, notably in France and the United Kingdom,” where sales grew by 22.2 percent and 19.8 percent […]
Corporate: McGraw Hill and Pearson Offer Highlights of Results to Come
McGraw Hill offered brief preliminary highlights of their fiscal fourth quarter (ending March 31) and full year 2021 results. For the quarter, overall billings grew 21 percent, with 12 percent growth in higher ed billings. Adjusted EBITDA grew in the fourth quarter, thanks to strong billings and savings from the completed “cost rationalization program.” The company says higher ed billings grew 5 percent for the year, and digital billings grew 17 percent, but did not provide data on overall billings for the year. “Despite challenging environment in FY2021, MH demonstrated resiliency and focused on supporting institutions, educators and learnings during […]
Sales of Vivendi’s Editis Up 40 Percent Compared to Last Year’s Locked Down Q1
Vivendi reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, with sales at French publisher Editis of €163 million, up from €116 last year, a forty percent increase. The gains were attributed to “a boom in the market environment since January 2021” and several bestselling titles, but were also due to a favorable comparison, since France was in lockdown a year ago. Compared to 2019, the company says sales were still up by 20.1% “at constant currency and perimeter compared to the first quarter of 2019 adjusted.” Even with the strong performance at Editis and Universal Music Group (sales up […]
Storytel Meets Its Growth Goals for 2020, Sets Aggressive New Targets
Swedish audiobook subscription service Storytel published its 2020 annual report, with total sales of SEK 2.39 billion ($268 million), up from SEK 1.84 billion, exceeding its goal for the year despite a strong Swedish krona. The company’s pretax loss was SEK (210) million, an improvement from SEK (380) million last year, though the company remains focused on growth over profit. “Storytel’s strong expansion focus, which prioritizes growth over profitability, will remain in place as long as customer acquisition creates value and contributes to making more markets profitable at a local level.” (One more market reached profitability in 2020, in the […]
PRH Gains in 2020 On “Growing US Business” and Digital Increases
Bertelsmann reported financial results for 2020, with Penguin Random House showing substantial gains in profit and a strong sales performance with meaningful “organic” sales growth for the first time since Penguin and Random House merger (see table below), helped by a string of acquisitions in 2019. Sales were €3.802 billion, up €166 billion from 2019, or 4.6 percent higher. Operating EBITDA was €691 million, rising €130 over 2019, up 23 percent. In the past Bertelsmann reported actual profit for the PRH joint venture with Pearson, which was €321 million in 2019 — but that measure has been retired now that […]