Last Friday Rakuten reported fourth quarter full-year 2015 results. In connection with that report, they took 38.1 billion yen in impairment charges (roughly $332 million), including a significant charge against the Kobo division of 7.8 billion yen (roughly $68 million). The company said that Kobo “has been impacted by a slower start to the rise of the global ebook industry than we originally expected, and hence its business plan fell behind original targets.” At the same time, Rakuten said that OverDrive’s financial performance “has been rapidly improving.” They added that “as a result, we expect EBITDA of our ebook business including […]
Earnings Reports
Simon & Schuster Has Strong Finish to the Year
Simon & Schuster built on a small gain in the third quarter for a big gain in the fourth quarter that lifted full-year sales just above the previous year, by $2 million. Fourth quarter sales of $233 million were $18 million (or 8 percent) ahead of the same quarter a year ago, “driven by growth in print book sales.” CEO Carolyn Reidy told us sales in the quarter were up across all units, with adult book sales up 10 percent, children’s books up 8 percent, and audio up 23 percent. (International sales rose on an underlying basis, but were flat after […]
Lagardere Publishing Rises On Euro and France; HBG Rebounds In Fourth Quarter
Lagardere reported fourth quarter sales after the close of the market in France on Wednesday (profits will be reported next month, in the European tradition). A strong final quarter gives a solid boost to their 2015 performance: Sales for the quarter were €631 million — compared to €537 million euros a year ago — up 9.2 percent on a like-for-like basis and 17.5 percent overall. Sales gains added €59 million euros; the strong US dollar and UK pound boosted results by €38 million, and UK acquisitions added €7 million. For all of 2015, Lagardere Publishing had sales of €2.206 billion — up just […]
Another Decline in Sales and Profits for Harper in Second Quarter
HarperCollins reported sales for their fiscal second quarter, ending December 31. Total revenues declined $23 million, or 5 percent to $446 million for the quarter, while EBITDA dropped 26 percent to $57 million (compared to $77 million a year ago). The company blamed “lower e-book sales, negative foreign currency fluctuations and lower revenues from the Divergent series” for the declines. Digital sales comprised 16 percent of consumer revenues for the quarter, compared to 17 percent at this time a year ago. Harper said that the release of Ree Drummond’s THE PIONEER WOMAN COOKS: DINNERTIME did boost general books sales, but this marks their fifth straight […]
On Cue: Waterstones’ Annual Retreat From Forecasts of Profit
Waterstones has filed financial results for the fiscal year through April 2015, and managing director James Daunt is engaging in his annual dance of walking back the bold proclamations he made to an always-eager press during the important holiday sales period. Amazingly, our analysis right now is exactly the same as what we said a year ago. Here are the facts: According to the company’s records filed with the UK’s Companies House, sales for the year ending April 2015 were £378 million, as the company lost money again — albeit with losses reduced to £1.9 million after taxes. The Bookseller says that […]
Indigo Celebrates Big Holiday Quarter
Canada’s dominant physical bookseller Indigo reported fiscal third quarter sales, through December 26, with revenue up 12.9 percent to $383 million (a $44 million gain), and net earnings of $52.8 million, up sharply from $33 million a year ago. Those gains came even though the chain had one less superstore and four fewer small-format stores than in the same period a year ago. The company had “high single digit growth in the core book business due to a combination of popular titles and a growing trend for adult coloring books” and even better “double digit growth in the general merchandise business,” which […]