Publishers

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, […]

Courier’s battered publishing division, comprising Dover Publications, Creative Homeowner, and Research & Education Association, grew slightly in their fiscal first quarter, up $100,000 at $11.6 million. Dover sales rose 18 percent, though Creative Homeowner was down 61 percent, “reflecting continued weakness in store traffic at home centers, the company’s largest sales channel” and the discontinuation of their book distribution services a year ago. The unit’s loss was reduced to $500,000 from $1.9 million a year ago. Overall sales for the quarter were $63.1 million, up 6 percent from a year ago, with improved net income of $2.8 million.Release