Wiley’s fourth quarter sales rose 2 percent to $445 million, with adjusted net income flat at $28.5 million. But those earnings were down a penny on a per share basis, at 46 cents a share, and declined 5 percent on a currency-neutral basis. Analysts were expecting 3 cents more per share in earnings, and $7 million more in sales than reported. A strong performance in higher education was offset by softness in Professional/Trade (P/T), which fell 3 percent to $110 million, due to “foregone sales” related to Borders’ bankruptcy. They say Borders “represented about 5 percent of projected P/T sales” […]
Publishers
Earnings: Pan Macmillan Q1 Digital Sales at 8 Percent; Digital Spending Causes Q4 Earnings Drop for Indigo
Pan Macmillan said digital sales for the first quarter of 2011 made up 8 percent of total revenue, and they expect that number to rise to about 10 percent for the full fiscal year. (That puts them at the high end of UK publishers disclosing ebook sales so far.) Over the same period, the publisher’s sales of print books have also shown “double-digit sales growth.” The Bookseller In contrast, in a statement timed with their annual meeting, Quarto said US ebook sales of their illustrated books are heading towards a projected 2 percent of sales. They add, “there is talk […]
Digital Accelerates At Bloomsbury, Which Announces Digital Drama Library with Faber
Bloomsbury, which is readjusting its fiscal year, reported results for the 14 months ending February 28. Since the publisher already disclosed 12-month results recently, we’ll only delve into the highlights and what’s new. Their ebook sales continue to accelerate. They were £1.5 million for all of 2010, and have now registered £1.1 million for the first two months of 2011. Chief executive Nigel Newton says in the release, “This is an exciting time for Bloomsbury: demand for digital delivery, including e-books, is increasing significantly; it will change the publishing business model creating one worldwide market. The recent organisation change is […]
Hastings Will Start Selling E-Books as Q1 Earnings Slide
Hastings Entertainment reported a drop in net income for its first quarter, down to $400,000 (or 5 cents per share) compared to $1 million (or 11 cents per share) a year ago. Total sales declined by 3.8 percent, to $124.1 million. Overall book comps decreased 9.1 percent for the quarter; new book sales fell 8.6 percent in the period, used books sales declined 19.6 percent, and value books gained by 8.7 percent. Publishers are blamed for a “weaker slate of new book releases.” The retailer says there was a 22 percent drop in “titles for which we purchase more than 1,000 copies.” […]
Bertelsmann’s Up Down Quarter
Depending upon which headline you check, you will have read today that Bertelsmann’s profits rose or fell in this first quarter, and both are true. In a brief trading statement, the company said sales rose from â¬3.56 billion to â¬3.63 billion. Operating EBIT, generally their preferred measure of income, fell 16 percent from last year’s record quarter at â¬245 million, and regular EBIT was down 18 percent. But total “group profit” more than doubled, to 94 million, due in part to lower interest payments. No division breakdowns are provided in the quarterly report.
With First Quarter Sales and Profits Up, Quarto Switches to Reporting in US Currency
Quarto reported first quarter sales of $32.6 million, up 5 percent from a year ago and the first time the company has reported earnings in US dollar values, which means “the impact of currency is much reduced.” EBIDTA rose slightly to $5.28 million and operating profit was up by 10 percent to $500,000, the margins still relatively slim on what they deem a “very quiet period.” Ceo Laurence Orbach commented in a statement that Quarto was “making good progress on its growth strategy,” which included the February acquisition of Cool Springs Press. With respect to ebooks, Quarto expects to generate […]