Publishers

Having already reported sales for 2009, Lagardere just reported their profits as well as part of their more formal fiscal report. The publishing division recorded of recurring EBIT of 301 million euros (on sales of 2.273 million euros), up 24 percent from last year. “The majority of the year-on-year increase of 58 million euros came from the United States, boosted by the success of the Stephenie Meyer saga,” for which they sold approximately 50 million copies in 2009 (after selling 35 million copies in 2008). In the US alone, they sold 33.6 million Meyer books in 2009. They also announced […]

Nothing helps the performance of Penguin and its parent company Pearson like a weak British pound, particularly since they get 60 percent of their sales from the US. For fiscal 2009 that benefit is stark, particularly for Penguin, where currency exchange made up for flat sales and declining margins. Sales at Penguin were 1.002 billion pounds, an 11 percent increase over last year’s 903 million pounds, though the gains and then some were entirely due to currency. The company admits that foreign exchange contributed 109 million pounds; on a constant-exchange-rate basis sales fell 1 percent, and “underlying” sales were down […]

Simon & Schuster had a weak finish to a difficult year, as sales fell over 20 percent in their fourth quarter ending December 31, down more than 10 percent (or $25 million) to $220 million, blamed on a “soft market.” For the full fiscal year, sales of $793.5 million were down 7.5 percent compared to a year ago. That sales number is also behind their 2007 sales (of $886 million) and 2006 sales (of $807 million). Profits fells further, with adjusted OIBDA of just $13.6 million this quarter, less than half of last year’s earnings of $28.3 million. For the […]

Lagardere reported preliminary results for their fiscal fourth quarter, ending December 31, with sales at Lagardere Publishing down 2.7 percent at 579 million euros (though the company claims that on a “like-for-like” currency adjusted basis sales rose 0.2 percent in the period and declares it “better than expected”). Sales at Hachette Book Group USA, which had shown “double-digit growth” through the end of September, fell “about 20 percent” in the fourth quarter–due to comparisons to Stephenie Meyer’s big breakout a year ago, when she sold 8 million copies in December 2009. US ebook sales, as previously mentioned by ceo Arnaud […]

In the holiday fiscal second quarter, ending December 31, HarperCollins had sales of $381 million and operating income of $65 million–a considerable improvement from sales of $305 million and a mere $23 million in operating income a year ago. Parent News Corp. says they had “higher sales at the general and the children’s book divisions which were partially offset by higher royalty and manufacturing costs.” It’s the first quarterly improvement in sales after five straight declines (so yes, the bar is lower). Operating income had already turned positive in the first quarter of this year, reported in early November. Two […]

McGraw-Hill announced fourth quarter earnings per share of 53 cents, a 43 percent increase over last year, and a few cents ahead of analysts’ expectations. Overall sales were $1.5 billion, with net income of $167 million–the first increases in sales and earnings since the third quarter of 2007. Chairman Harold McGraw III cited an “upswing in higher education, professional and international markets” as contributing factors. Education sales of $520 million were up 2.6 percent, with operating profit of $33.5 million, compared to a loss of $12.7 million a year ago. (For the year, education sales were still down 9.5 percent, […]