Pearson announced financial results for the first half of the year ended June 30, reporting sales of £1.72 billion, down 2 percent on a headline basis due to currency fluctuations, up 2 percent on an underlying basis. Operating profit rose 10 percent to £240 million, “driven by operating leverage on sales growth, gains on disposals and the reversal of impairments on property assets.” Adjusted operating profit grew 2 percent to £242 million. In the Higher Education segment, sales were flat at £337 million with an adjusted operating loss of £(3) million, an improvement from £(7) million last year. Sales growth in […]
Earnings Reports
Storytel Updates Guidance on Strong Q2
Swedish audiobook company Storytel announced financial results for the second quarter. Sales grew 4 percent to SEK958 million, or 8 percent at constant currency, due to “healthy growth in the Streaming segment due to strong growth in subscriber intake and a solid development in the Publishing segment.” Bokfabriken, which Storytel acquired in Q1, contributed SEK10.6 million. Operating profit was up 75 percent to SEK82 million and EBITDA grew 46 percent to SEK161 million. “We have delivered a robust financial performance, driven by a high subscriber intake, solid EBITDA growth and strong cash generation giving us the strategic possibility to invest […]
Reorg, New Hunger Games Book Help Spur Scholastic’s Turnaround
Scholastic reported results from their fourth quarter and full year ended May 31. Sales for the quarter were $508, up 7 percent, with adjusted EBITDA up 1 percent to $91.2 million. Operating income was $53.5 million, a 13 percent increase. Excluding $9.9 million in one-time charges, operating income was down 5 percent to $63.4 million, due to “employee-related expenses.” In the Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment, sales were up 9 percent to $288.2 million. With a higher fair count, book fairs increased 5 percent to $177.8 million. Book clubs experienced lower orders, resulting in a 9 percent drop to […]
Union Square Helps HBG In Q2
Lagardere reported financial results for the second quarter, with publishing sales of €726 million, down just under 1 percent as reported and 2 percent on a like-for-like basis, compared to €733 million last year. The difference between the reported and like-for-like comparisons are due to the November acquisition of Sterling Publishing and April acquisition of 999 Games. Looking at the first half of the year, sales were €1.35 billion, up 3 percent as reported and 1 percent like-for-like. The company attributes the sales growth to strong performance in the UK and increased board game sales. Recurring EBIT fell 6 percent […]
BNED Delays Annual Reporting Due To Accounting Errors
Barnes & Noble Education filed for an extension with the SEC, noting that they can’t file their annual financial report “within the prescribed time period without unreasonable effort or expense.” The company has launched an investigation due to “certain information regarding the recording of cost of digital sales.” The investigation is ongoing, but the company believes that there “may have a potential overstatement of up to $23 million in the aggregate to its accounts receivable balance” due to “overstatements and understatements to its cost of sales during the fiscal years 2024 and 2025, impacting results of operations in those periods.” […]
Bloomsbury Confirms Lower Expectations for The Year
Bloomsbury released an innocuous looking trading update ahead of today’s annual meeting, saying they expect results for the fiscal year ending in February 2026 to be “in line with consensus expectations” — which they express as £336 million in sales and £41.6 million in profit before taxation and highlighted items. What’s unsaid is those figures are lower than their previous expectations, announced in May, when they expected results to be “broadly in line with current consensus expectation” of £349 million in sales and £45.1 million in profit before taxation and highlighted items. The new profit guidance is 7.8 percent lower […]