Sales at the UK’s Quercus rose 75 percent in the past year, now up to 19.13 million pounds as they finally enjoy the river of cash from holding world rights to Steig Larsson’s trilogy. That said, the company–and market–has been troubled enough that they still wrote down a chunk of author advances, impairing profits. Operating profit before tax was 1.19 million pounds. Creditors are nearly getting paid on time now, down from 126 days to 74 days, and with luck that means authors are getting paid on a more timely fashion, too. With the Larsson revenue stream growing constantly, preliminary […]
Publishers
Sales and Income Improve at Bertelsmann, As Mondadori Sales Decline
In a brief first quarter trading update, Bertelsmann said that sales are up 2.5 percent, at 3.622 billion euros, and group income has returned to profitability at 45 million, compared to 78 million euro loss in the same period a year ago. No divisional data is provided in the quarterly update; those details will come in their half-year earnings report on August 31.Release Elsewhere in Europe, Mondadori also returned to modest profit in the quarter of 2.4 million euros, though their sales declined 2.8 percent to 345 million euros due to lower advertising and circulation. “Mondadori said it would continue […]
Sales Fall Again at Simon & Schuster
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 […]
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