Sales at Simon & Schuster dropped in the third quarter of 2019 to $217 million, down $23 million from a year ago (or 9.6 percent). Operating income rose again despite the lower sales, up $1 million to $52 million — marking the 19th consecutive quarter of profit growth — primarily due to “lower production costs from the mix of titles.” In the press release, the company said the sales decline was mainly driven by lower print book sales, due to the comparison to last year’s record-breaking release of Fear: Trump in the White House by Bob Woodward. (Two years ago […]
Earnings Reports
Soft Quarter at Harper and A Big Loss at News Corp.
News Corp. reported fiscal first quarter sales on Thursday afternoon, with a soft quarter at HarperCollins. Sales of $405 million were down $13 million, or 3 percent, with foreign exchange costing $5 million in the period. EBITDA fell much further, down to $49 million, from $68 million a year ago (which had been a time of unusually “robust profit growth”), blamed on “the different mix of titles.” Digital sales fell 5 percent in the period, comprising 22 percent of “consumer revenues” (which were $387 million). The results were worse for parent company News Corp., where sales fell 7 percent to $2.34 […]
Earnings News: Indigo Sales Fall Again; LSC Announces Two More Plant Closures
At Indigo, Q2 sales for the period ending September 28, 2019, declined to $203.4 million (CA) compared to $216.3 million for the same period last year, a decrease of 6 percent. The operating loss was ($20.455 million) from ($19.125 million) last Q2. On the earnings news, the stock was down slightly to $4.30 a share at 11 a.m., down about 2 percent from close. Comparable retail superstore sales for the quarter decreased 7.4 percent, while small format stores decreased 5.7 percent. As for product mix, print gained slightly as a percentage of sales, moving to 59.5 percent of sales, from […]
Lagardere Publishing Gains In France, Just Below Flat In US and UK
Lagardere reported third quarter results November 7, with book publishing sales of €663 million, up from €607 million. The gains included €9 million from the strengthening US dollar and €7 million from the recent Gigamic and Short Books acquisitions, but results were driven mostly by a 12.2 percent gain at the big French publishing division, which enjoyed “a sharp uptick in education” on high school curriculum reform and “robust momentum for mobile games.” At HBG USA sales were just below flat, down 0.3 percent, held back by the Nashville division and a weaker comp at Perseus, where sales of Jen […]
HMH Trade Sales Down for Q3, While Company Seeks New Lenders
On the heels of announcing significant layoffs and news of improved sales and billings for the company overall, HMH reported full results for Q3. In its trade, or Books & Media business, both sales and EBITDA were down for the quarter, largely due to $16 million received a year ago from re-licensing some George Orwell titles for paperback. Books & Media sales for the quarter were $48.1 million, down from $66.6 million in 2018, with segment adjusted EBITDA of $8.3 million, down from $15.5 million. Net income was $4.9 million, versus $12.1 a year ago. Though the company expects a […]
Quad Will Exit the Book Printing Business, As Stock Plunges On Poor Results
The big news in Quad’s third quarter earnings release was ceo Joel Quadracci’s announcement: “We have made the strategic decision to divest our book business.” Having cancelled their planned merger with the leading book printer LSC Communications, Quad has apparently chosen not to engage in what the Department of Justice had called their “intense rivalry.” Quadracci claims, “We are selling the business to ensure continued capacity for our clients and sustainable employment for our employees, and an ongoing presence in the communities where the book plants are located.” Their book printing business generates a little over $200 million a year, […]