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 […]
Publishers
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 […]
Harper US eBook Sales Reach 19 Percent for the Quarter
News Corp. issued third quarter earnings and as has become the new standard, the words “book” and “HarperCollins” do not merit an appearance anywhere in the 13-page statement. The company’s publishing division overall was a mess–operating income fell $82 million thanks to The Daily and advertising declines in the UK and Australian newspapers, and a marketing services litigation settlement cost another $125 million. By their own reckoning, HarperCollins says they “had a solid quarter. In the US, eBooks comprised 19 percent of sales in the US, and 11 percent of worldwide revenues. The company says “we expect to see those […]
Sales Up For Simon & Schuster in First Quarter
Sales at Simon & Schuster rose 2 percent in their fiscal first quarter, up $3 million to $155 million. Adjusted OIBDA improved as well, more than doubling from $3 million last year to $7 million this time, and adjusted operating income rose similarly from $2 million to $5 million, helped by “lower shipping, production and returns costs from the significant increase in digital sales.” eBooks comprised 17 percent of revenues worldwide (and thus were likely a higher percentage for the US alone) or more than $26 million, up from 7 percent a year ago. While Hachette Book Group said in the […]