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 […]
Publishers
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 […]
Results: WH Smith, Harper International, and Bertrams
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 […]
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 […]