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 […]
Publishers
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 […]
McGraw-Hill Reports Higher Q2 Profits, But Keeps Outlook Cautious
McGraw Hill reported second quarter earnings of $191.1 million; or 61 cents a share, a 16 percent (or $27 million) jump compared with $164.1 million, or 52 cents a share last year — in line with Wall Street expectations of 61 cents per share. Revenue was up 0.6 percent to $1.5 billion. Revenue for the education side increased by 1.8 percent to $565 million, helped by foreign exchange rates that added $3.3 million in revenue and $2.3 million in operating profits. School Education Group revenue declined 4.0%, or $13.7 million, to $324.9 million, affected by a delay in shipping a […]
Scholastic Beats Expectations with Robust Q4 and Decent Fiscal Year
Scholastic reported sales from continuing operations in their fourth quarter of $538.4 million, up 9 percent from the prior period. Consolidated earnings per diluted share were $0.79 in the quarter, compared to $0.76 in the prior year period, taking into account a one-time, mostly non-cash expenses of $0.18 per share in the current period and a net one-time item gain of $0.06 per share in the prior period. Their children’s publishing and distriibution division, sales were up 6% to $273.5 million, “outperforming the book publishing and book selling industry during the period.” Segment operating income increased 40% to $50.7 million, […]
Overall Earnings Surge for Courier in Q1, but Publishing Fares Less Well
For the quarter ending June 26, Courier Corporation’s consolidated third-quarter revenues were $64.9 million, up 6% from $59.6 million a year ago, while net income rose to $1.8 million from $1.6 million at this time 12 months ago. Book publishing sales declined 4% to $10.9 million, with sales at Dover were down 6% in the quarter, but up 3% for the year. Total specialty publishing segment revenues were $11.6 million, up slightly from $11.5 million last year. Company CEO James Conway says “Given the uneven state of the recovery, many consumers chose to stay on the sidelines…We did make progress […]
Wiley Finishes Strong; Signs with Apple
Wiley reported fourth quarter sales of $436 million, up 8 percent from a year ago, and full-year sales of $1.699 billion, up five percent. Professional/trade sales rose 18 percent in the period, at $115 million, with growth “particularly in the US.” For the full year, the segment had sales of $430 million, up 7 percent. Trade ebook sales comprised $7 million (less than 2 percent of overall trade), and the company says that it now has an “ebook agreement signed with Apple.” The company took a small $800,000 restructuring charge in the fourth quarter “related to offshoring and outsourcing certain […]