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.
Publishers
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 […]
Lagardere Sales Slide As US eBooks Hit 22%, Plus UK Digital Stats and Asian Device Updates
Today’s stories offer digital statistics and hints from all over. Lagardere issued a brief first quarter trading update. Publishing revenues were 390 million euros, down 9.8 percent on an absolute basis, and down 10.4 percent from a year ago on a like-for-like basis. Once again, they attribute the drop to Stephenie Meyer’s declining sales. (The same period a year ago “notably” included Meyer rights sales as well.) eBooks comprised approximately 22 percent of sales in the US in the quarter through the end of March, and grew to 5 percent of sales in the UK. For the full year, they […]
Publishing Slides in Second Quarter For Courier on Borders Writedown Charge
Courier’s publishing units had sales of $10.1 million, down 14 percent compared to a year ago, with lower sales to Borders (and a $750,000 one-time restructuring charge thanks to the chain’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy) accounting for the largest part of the shortfall. Where Borders made up 9 percent of segment revenue in the company’s first six months last year, now it only made up 2 percent for FY2011 to date. Excluding the writedown, the segment lost $1.2 million, a far cry from a year ago when it broke even. Ceo James Conway said, “We felt the same pressures as most […]