Lagardere Publishing reported “only a limited fall in net sales” in the first half of the year, down just 4 million euros compared to a year ago at 542 million euros, mostly due to comparisons against “exceptional” Stephenie Meyer sales last year. As for income, they only report recurring EBIT twice a year, which was 101 million euros, compared to 112 million euros a year ago. The company did warn that investors should expect “a sharper drop” in earnings in the second half of the year, both because of lower Meyer sales and a “less favorable than expected outlook” for […]
Publishers
Bloomsbury Does Better with Publishing than Investments
Sales at Bloomsbury rose 4.5 percent in the first half of the year, to 36.8 million pounds, though pre-tax profit fell by a little more than half, at 949,000 pounds. Profits on the publishing side fell by 23 percent, mostly due to the inclusion of the new Bloomsbury Professional unit (based on their acquisition of law and tax publisher Tottel), “which is typically loss making in the first half of the year.” Investment income on the mountain of residual Harry Potter cash declined much more sharply, down from 842,000 pounds to 180,000 pounds, reaffirming that the company is much better […]
Sales Rise at Harper As Profits Lag
HarperCollins has joined Simon & Schuster and Penguin in reporting increased sales for their most recent quarter, ending June 30, at $302 million, up over 8 percent from $278 million a year ago. Profits are still lagging, however, with an operating loss of $1 million–matching the loss from this time a year ago (though they were up $3 million prior to depreciation and amortization). For the full fiscal year, Harper recorded sales of $1.269 billion, recovering 11 percent after a poor fiscal 2009, with operating income of $88 million–hardly a stellar performance, but much improved from just $17 million in […]
Sales and Profits Rise at Simon & Schuster
Sales at Simon & Schuster were up 4.5 percent in their fiscal second quarter, ending June 30, at $189.7 million an $8.3 million increase from a year ago. Adjusted OIBDA was up more, by 65%, at $16.9 million, compared to $10.3 million a year ago, and adjusted operating income rose to $15.2 million. The company cited “growth in digital content sales and the strength of best-selling titles in the second quarter of 2010, including Spoken from the Heart by Laura Bush and Women Food and God by Geneen Roth.” Though the sales gains may seem relatively small, it’s the largest […]
Profits Rise at Harlequin
Harlequin’s parent company Torstar reported second quarter sales of $124.1 million (CA), down $6.2 million, and operating profit of $20.4 million, up $700,000 from a year ago. Calling it “another strong performance at Harlequin,” they say that sales rose excluding the rise in the Canadian dollar. Looking forward, they expect a “relatively stable year” at Harlequin, “including the negative earnings impact of foreign exchange. The growth in the North America digital sales and the acquisition of the other half of the German joint venture in April 2010 will offset the expected decline from the Softbank contribution, lower North America Retail […]
Penguin Sales Up 9 Percent As Profit More than Doubles
Sales at Penguin for the first half of the year rose 9 percent, at 493 million pounds–as did sales across Pearson–and operating profit at the book publisher more than doubled, at 44 pounds (up from 21 million pounds a year ago). The company says the increase in margins is “the result of a strategy of targeted and sustained investment in publishing, digital change and reorganization.” They go on to cite “a series of organizational changes made in 2009 at Penguin UK and Dorling Kindersley to strengthen publishing, accelerate the transition to digital, reduce costs and shift design and production to […]