Publishers

Lagardere announced first-half and second quarter results, with publishing segment sales of €1.216 billion for the first six months, up €86 million or 7.7 percent from last year. Recurring EBIT was €81 million in the first half, down from €110 million in 2021—a record-breaking result—due to the rising costs of labor, transportation, and production. Sales in the second quarter were €662 million, an increase of 6.8 percent. In the US, like-for-like sales were down 1.9 percent compared to last year’s particularly strong first half, due to a “lighter release schedule” in 2022. But, as Hachette Book Group ceo Michael Pietsch […]

Scholastic announced fourth quarter and full-year results for 2022, for the period ended May 31, with gains that “exceeded expectations for this rebuilding year,” president and ceo Peter Warwick said on a call with investors, due to a rebound in in-person book fairs and strong results in the educational business. Q4 sales were $514 million, up 28 percent from last year and ahead of the same periods in 2018 ($496 million) and 2019 ($471 million). Operating income was $65.5 million, up significantly from $9.7 million in the same quarter last year. Earnings were $53.7 million compared to $8 million last […]

Bloomsbury released a trading update for the first four months of the fiscal year, ended June 30, ahead of its annual meeting today. Trade sales rose 26 percent over the same period last year to £49.95 million, with adult sales of £16.7 million (up 12 percent) and children’s sales of £33.3 million (up 34 percent). Company-wide, sales were up 27 percent to £80.3 million. Results were driven by a Paul Hollywood cookbook and, as always, Sarah J. Maas and Harry Potter. Given the strong start, market expectations are for full-year sales of £242.6 million and profit before taxation and highlighted […]

Wiley reported fourth quarter and fiscal year results for the period ended April 30, with fourth quarter sales of $546 million, up 2 percent from $536 million, held back by -$11 million in foreign exchange. Operating income was $58.4 million, up 14 percent from $51.2 million a year ago, and adjusted EBITDA was $110.9 million, down from $112.7 million. Academic & Professional Learning (which includes trade books) was down 7 percent as reported in the quarter, “driven by declines in education publishing and trade publishing, offsetting a continued strong recovery in corporate training.” That corporate training recovery was evident in […]

News Corp. reported results for their fiscal third quarter 2022 ended March 31 after the close of the market on Thursday, with Harper Collins recording sales of $515 million, up 5 percent overall from $490 million a year ago. Adjusted sales declined 1 percent, however. The overall growth includes $37 million from recent acquisitions (most of that from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) — offset by $6 million in negative currency exchange and $14 million less in Bridgerton sales than a year ago, along with unspecified “lower sales” in children’s and foreign language books. A year ago, the publisher reported a particularly […]

Swedish audiobook streaming service and publisher Storytel reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, with streaming sales of SEK698.599 million ($74.8 million), up 35 percent from SEK517.075 million a year ago. The growth was fueled by the January acquisition of Audiobooks.com, which also likely led to a pre-tax loss for the quarter of SEK(233.3) million, compared to a loss of SEK(66.1) million in Q1 2021. Print publishing sales were SEK149.3 million, up 19 percent from SEK125.189 million. The company acknowledged a “restructuring of Storytel’s streaming organization” in March, which “was an emotional but undoubtedly necessary next step in […]