Sales at Simon & Schuster fell 6 percent in their fiscal first quarter, down $10 million to $151.7 million. But adjusted OIBDA improved to $3.6 million, still slim but an improvement over essentially no earnings this time last year. The unit did take an additional $1.5 million restructuring charge during this quarter, related to previously-announced reorganizations of their Australian unit the US field sales force. Parent company CBS blames “the continued soft retail market,” which was “partially offset by significantly higher digital sales…such as ebooks, audio downloads and stand-alone applications.” The improvement in margins is “the result of strong cost […]
Publishers
Canadian Dollar Hurts Torstar Sales (But Helps Profits)
Sales at Torstar’s Harlequin unit fell in their first quarter, ending March 31, at $113 million down more than 9 percent from $124.5 million a year ago. EBITDA rose over 9 percent, though, to $23.7 million. The company says North American retail and overseas sales fell, as digital revenues had “strong growth.” In a bit of a paradox, the rising Canadian dollar accounts for $10 million of the drop in sales, but foreign exchange also contributed to the rise in profits.Release
Harper Returns to Slim Profit in Third Quarter
Sales at HarperCollins rose 13.5 percent to $276 in their fiscal third quarter ending March 31, as operating income turned positive again at $4 million after an $8 million loss (plus a $30 million restructuring charge) in the same period a year ago. While an improvement, note that two years ago in the same quarter Harper had sales of $302 million and operating income of $29 million. As usual, Harper UK proudly points out to the local trade press that they “did outperform the market,” the most positive way of saying that sales declined, but not by the six percent […]
Pearson Assures A "Good Start," Up 7 Percent In Q1
In a brief first quarter trading update, Pearson reported sales of 1.08 billion pounds, up seven percent driven, as usual, by the education group. They say Penguin “made a good start to the year, particularly in the US, the UK and at Dorling Kindersley. We expect another good competitive performance, with a compelling publishing schedule in the second half of the year. Growth in demand for eBooks also remains very strong, and Penguin is actively engaged in developing new publishing models for digital devices.”Statement
Education Gains Slightly at McGraw-Hill; United Media Licensing Sold
Reporting results for their fiscal first quarter, McGraw-Hill’s education division rose 1.5 percent to $317 million, with a reduced operating loss of $61.8 million. Higher ed, professional and international sales rose over 8 percent to $206 million due to “surging sales of digital products,” but school education sales fell 9 percent to $112 million. Those digital gains included “double-digit revenue increases” from “e-books, online courses and online homework management assessment products for students.”Release Brand management group Iconix has bought United Media Licensings from the E.W. Scripps Company for $175 million. As part of the deal, Iconiz has created a partnership […]
Sales Fall 4 Percent at WH Smith; Publishing Remains Soft for Courier
The UK’s WH Smith reported results for the six months ending February 28, with high street sales of 503 million pounds down 4 percent, both in absolute terms and on a comp-store basis. Books as a category were also down 4 percent compared to a year ago. The company says “the books market was soft during the key Christmas period, but performance varied by sub-category with the poor publishing schedule in non-fiction acting as a key driver behind the market decline.” Nonetheless, they insist that “we continue to implement our strategy to build on our authority as a popular book […]