Scholastic reported 4th quarter and full year earnings on July 25. As the company warned when it revised guidance at the end of May, Q4 operating income dropped precipitously, to $32 million, compared to $73.9 million a year ago, mostly due to sales tax collection issues, as well as ASC 606 accounting changes and increased promotional spend at book fairs. Sales were also down in Q4, to $470.7 million, compared to $496.2 million in fiscal 2018. For the full year, sales increased 2 percent to $1.65 billion, thanks to “a great year for trade publishing globally,” according to chairman Dick […]
Earnings Reports
Profits Slide In First Half for Lagardere Publishing
Lagardere reported second quarter and half year results on Thursday afternoon, with book publishing sales of €584 million up €26 million from a year ago, mostly due to the strengthening US dollar, along with gains from the recently-acquired Gigamic and Worthy Publishing Group. For the first half of the year, recurring group EBIT fell €9 million however, down to €36 million. The drop in earnings was attributed to “higher launch costs for Partworks and a negative timing effect in France linked to costs incurred to prepare the curriculum reform.” Outside of recurring profits, Lagardere Publishing also incurred €7 million in […]
People, Etc.
John McKay has joined the Association of American Publishers (AAP) as senior vice president, communications. He was most recently an executive officer with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Previously, he was a vp of communications for both NBC Universal and Sony Music Entertainment. Nancy Ellwood has joined Arcadia Publishing to launch a new local publishing program for children. She was previously editorial director at DK. Arcadia president and ceo David Steinberger said in the release, “Retailers everywhere are telling us that their customers are hungry for local content, and we keep getting asked to add a hyper-local program for […]
Barnes & Noble Education Has Weak Finish to Another Poor Year
If you want to feel better about the Barnes & Noble retail stores, look no further than the consistent underperformance of Barnes & Noble Education — which was always supposed to be the growth side of the business, except that it keeps declining. Fourth quarter sales were below even the reduced guidance from March: Revenue of $334.4 million decreased $23 million, or 6.5 percent compared, compared to a year ago. They had a net loss of $(46.2) million in the quarter — driven by a non-cash loss of $(57.8) million, primarily due to goodwill impairment on their retail and wholesale […]
Barnes & Noble Store Comps Down 2.3 Percent In Fourth Quarter
Barnes & Noble reported on June 19 what may be its last quarterly earnings statement in its waning days as a public company, and the numbers held few surprises. For the fourth quarter, sales were $755 million, down $31 million from a year ago, with same-store sales declining 2.3 percent. The net loss was $18.7 million, a slight improvement over a loss of $21 million last Q4. Consolidated EBITDA, which excludes one-time charges, was $4.6 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $6.7 million a year ago. For the year, sales were $3.553 billion, from $3.662 billion in 2018. Net […]
Wiley’s Publishing Decline Continues, But CEO Sees Turnaround
Wiley reported 4th quarter and full-year earnings for the period ending April 30. First, the quarter: Q4 sales were $491.2 million, up slightly from last quarter’s $477.3 million but only because of $18 million extra revenue from the Learning House acquisition. Net income was $63.2 million, up from $54.1 million in Q4 2018. But publishing sales continued to decline further still; STM and professional publishing sales were down 2 percent, to $68.2 million from $71.5 million (much improved from Q3’s 20 percent decline), and education publishing sales were $29.8 million, down from $35.3 million. Turning to the full year, revenue […]