In the UK, WH Smith reported results for the first half of their year, ending February 28, that look encouraging against the backdrop of weak UK retail sales in general and the continuing troubles at competitor Waterstone’s and HMV in particular. Sales still fell, mind you, with same-store and overall sales at their High Street stores down 6 percent, travel-store comps down 3 percent. But profits, which were decent to begin with, remained flat. So they earned £47 million on High Street sales of £473, and £25 million on flat overall travel store sales of £213 million. The company says […]
Publishers
Random House Revenues and Profits Grow Thanks To Digital Market Boost
Compared to the cautious and wary tone struck by Random House and its parent company Bertelsmann the year before, a wave of optimism was clearly evident in their reporting on fiscal year 2010 results. Company revenues rose 6.1 percent to â¬1.828 billion, while operating EBIT rose by 26.3 percent to â¬173 million. (That brings them almost back to levels last reached in fiscal 2007, when they reported sales of â¬1.837 billion ad EBIT of â¬173 million, both down at the time from fiscal 2006.) Digital sales rose 250% over the previous year, comprising approximately 10 percent of US revenues. Among major contributors, […]
Scholastic Losses Widen in Third Quarter, Though Trade Publishing Is A Bright Spot
Sales at Scholastic dropped 1.1 percent in their third quarter, at $393.7 million compared to $398.8 million a year ago. They also reported a net loss from continuing operations of $25.1 million, significantly more in the red as compared to the $5.6 million in net losses the previous year. They attribute the drop in earnings to lower sales of higher margin educational technology relative to a year ago, thanks to significant benefit from the federal stimulus program, as well as increased investment in digital initiatives. Trade publishing sales of $43.5 million rose 21 percent compared to a year ago due […]
Q4, Full Year Revenues and Book Comps Drop Sharply For Hastings
Hastings Entertainment reported a sharp decrease in fourth-quarter earnings, with a net income of $3.8 million, or $0.43 per share compared to $9.1 million or $0.94 per share, in the corresponding period one year earlier. Sales of $166.9 million for the quarter were down 8.9 percent from $176.1 million a year earlier. Comparable store revenues for books 7 percent for the fourth quarter, mostly owing to increased popularity of e-book readers, and lower sales of magazines, with a decline of 4.2 percent for the year ending January 31. All major trade book formats suffered more than the overall figure reflects, since their decreases were […]
Wiley Rises Even with Borders Charge; Trade eBooks Grow, Still at 4.4%
Sales rose 7 percent at Wiley in their fiscal third quarter, to $448 million, with operating income of $70 million, up 2 percent. The company’s previously-announced bad debt charge from Borders of $9 million was equal to 10 cents a share, and Wiley reiterated that it “does not anticipate any additional charge or bad debt expense with respect to this customer.” CEO William Pesce comments more broadly in the release: “Professional/Trade bounced back from a tough second quarter, led by business and cooking books. Sales of ebooks grew and had a positive effect on gross margin. In December, Wiley stopped […]
Profits Fall 17 Percent at Lagardere Publishing; eBook Keep Rising
In standard French fashion, Lagardere has reported profits for fiscal 2010, having already reported revenues. In the book publishing division, “a fall in profitability was expected after 2009’s spectacular results,” with recurring EBIT of 250 million euros, on sales of 2.165 million euros. Margin is down 51 million euros from a year ago, a 17 percent decline, and their net margin for the year was 11.6 percent, down from 13.2 percent in 2009 “due to a change in product mix (lower contribution from blockbusters in 2010) and investments in digital.” eBook sales continue to grow rapidly. As previously reported they […]