Bloomsbury released a brief trading update on Tuesday for the four months ended June 30, reporting “strong performance” that was in line with expectations for the year (£319.3 million in sales and £37.6 million in profit before taxation and highlighted items). The company acquired Roman & Littlefield’s academic publishing business during the period, which they expect will boost their Bloomsbury Digital Resources sales from £27 million in 2023/24 to £41 million in 2027/28. “The enlarged Academic business will focus on wider international sales, subject area expansion and continued innovation in digital scholarship and learning,” they said in a release. “The […]
Publishers
Wiley Sales Grow Due to AI Deal
Wiley announced fourth quarter and full year earnings for the period ended April 30, marking a turnaround for the company. For the fourth quarter, including held for sale or sold assets, sales were down 11 percent to $468 million and operating income fell 17 percent to $69 million. Excluding those assets at constant currency, adjusted sales were up 4 percent to $441 million and adjusted EBITDA gained 7 percent to $125 million. For the year, sales were down 7 percent to $1.873 billion with operating income down 6 percent to $52 million. Adjusted sales were $1.617 billion, down 1 percent, […]
Simon & Schuster Reported to Have Weak Fourth Quarter
Simon & Schuster provided “a financial snapshot” to its lenders ahead of fully audited results for the fourth quarter of 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 that reportedly show full-year 2023 sales fell by 8 percent, Bloomberg reports. That would represent a big fall off in the final two months of 2023. It suggests fourth quarter sales were approximately $226 million — down from $314 million in 2022, and $268 million in 2021. Paramount Global indicated sales in October were $101 million, which would mean sales for the last two months of the year were $125 million. While that’s […]
Bloomsbury Breaks Records
Bloomsbury released preliminary results for their full year ended February 29, with sales up 30 percent to £342.7 million. Profit before taxation and highlighted items was £48.7 million, a 57 percent increase. Both sales and earnings set a record for the company. In a release, CEO Nigel Newton said, “This dramatic increase arises from our entrepreneurial diversification strategy which has forged a portfolio of portfolios combining consumer and academic publishing across formats, territories and subject areas, a resilient model delivering long-term success.” But that’s really not the story the results show. The company’s growth comes from consumer sales—driven by Sarah […]
Harper Collins Reports A Soft Quarter, As Physical Book Sales Fall
News Corp reported earnings for their fiscal third quarter ended March 31, with sales at Harper Collins of $506 million, down 2 percent from the record high $515 million in the same quarter last year. The decline was due to lower physical book sales, which were partially offset by higher digital sales and lower returns. Earnings improved 2 percent, with EBITDA of $62 million, attributed to “lower manufacturing, freight and distribution costs driven by product mix” and the absence of last year’s high supply chain costs, but offset by slower sales and increased employee costs. (Remember, the Harper union was […]
Bertelsmann Touts Organic Growth As Overall Sales Fall
Bertelsmann made a brief announcement of financial results for the first quarter, reporting overall sales of €4.3 billion ($4.67 billion), down 9 percent due to the company’s sale of their stake in Majorel. Organic growth was 3.6 percent. “Bertelsmann has gotten off to a good start in fiscal 2024, and is once again experiencing stronger growth from within,” chair and CEO Thomas Rabe said in a release. “We confirm our forecast for the current year.” At Penguin Random House—which was not among the businesses listed as the largest contributors in the quarter—top titles included Ashley Elston’s FIRST LIE WINS, which […]