Bertelsmann shared a brief announcement on their financial results for the first quarter, noting that the company as a whole had €4.4 billion in sales, compared to €4.5 billion the previous year. Penguin Random House “delivered a strong business performance,” based on sales of Virginia Evans’s The Correspondent and Angela Song’s For the Fans! (KPop Demon Hunters), which sold 1.6 million copies in the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Spain during the quarter, plus film-tie in editions of Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary and Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights.
Publishers
Harper Gains in the Quarter
News Corp. reported earnings for their third quarter ended March 31, with sales at Harper Collins up 8 percent ($41 million) to $555 million, a new record for the quarter. Results were “driven by higher physical and digital book sales led by Rachel Reid’s Game Changers,” and helped by a $6 million gain from recent acquisitions and $12 million from currency exchange. (Adjusted sales were therefore up 4 percent.) EBITDA rose 14 percent to $73 million due (up $9 million). Increased ebook sales led to a 2 percent increase in digital sales. The company reports that digital made up 26 […]
Pearson Shows Moderate Growth in Line with Expectations
Pearson released a brief trading update for the first quarter, announcing a 4 percent increase in sales. “We have had an encouraging start to the year, with a good performance in line with our expectations and continued progress against our strategy,” ceo Omar Abbosh said in the report. “We are executing with discipline, advancing our core business and enterprise offerings, while applying innovative technologies to enhance learner experiences. We remain confident in the momentum we are seeing for 2026 and in our ability to deliver attractive growth for our shareholders.” Sales in the Higher Education segment, which includes textbooks, gained […]
HBG Gains 2 Percent in The First Quarter of 2026
Lagardere announced financial results for the first quarter of 2026, with publishing sales of €615 million, down 1.1 percent as reported and up 1.4 percent on a like for like basis. (There was a €24 million negative currency effec,t as the US dollar, British pound, and Japanese yen fell compared to the euro.) Like for like, sales at Hachette Book Group in the US grew 2 percent, based on strong frontlist titles. Sales at Hachette UK fell 4 percent on an unfavorable comparison, since the same period in 2025 had Rebecca Yarros’ Onyx Storm. French sales grew 1 percent. The […]
Profits Slip At PRH in 2025
Bertelsmann announced results for the full year 2025. Sales at Penguin Random House globally were €4.981 billion, up 1.3 percent (or €61 million from the previous year), with organic growth up 3.3 percent. Adjusted operating EBITDA fell 4.7 percent, down €35 million to €704 million “primarily due to growth-related expenses in the US core business along with negative exchange rate effects,” the earnings report states. Foreign exchange reduced sales by 3.9 percent, in large part due to the weakened US dollar. “Despite increased revenues, our profitability continued to be impacted by rising costs that all of us are feeling in […]
Scholastic Sales Slip in the Third Quarter; Announces Big Share Repurchase and Dutch Auction
Scholastic reported results from its third quarter, ended February 28, with sales down 2 percent to $329 million. Operating loss increased 13 percent to $(26.9) million and operating loss before one-time items was down 16 percent to $(24.3) million. Adjusted EBITDA fell to $0 from $6 million, attributed to the sale-leaseback transactions on their properties. At the same time, the company announced a $200 million “modified Dutch auction tender offer,” buying back shares at a price range of between $36 to $40 per share. That auction is part of a new $300 million repurchase plan, with “the remaining portion of […]