News Corp. reported fiscal first quarter sales after the close of the market on Thursday, with HarperCollins showing increases “driven by strong sales and the successful integration of HMH.” Sales were $546 million for the quarter, $88 million higher than a year ago. HMH accounted for $50 million, with adjusted revenue or organic Harper sales up 7.2 percent over last year’s $458 million, helped by $7 million in foreign exchange. (A year ago, HMH recorded sales of $55.7 million in the same quarter, including $4 million in licensing revenue for the Carmen Sandiego series on Netflix.) In the conference call […]
Publishers
Another Record Third Quarter for Simon & Schuster
ViacomCBS reported third quarter results on Thursday morning, with publisher Simon & Schuster well exceeding last year’s third quarter, which had set a new record for revenues. This year, third quarter sales hit $321 million, up 15 percent from $279 million in 2020 (which compared to $217 million in 2019, and $240 million in 2018). Operating income grew even more, to $93 million, compared to $56 million in 2020. (“Earnings” from discontinued operations, with is “primarily” S&S, were $94 million, versus $61 million a year ago.) CEO Jonathan Karp said, “It was a stellar quarter in an outstanding year,” with […]
Higher Ed Sales Still Sliding At Pearson
Pearson issued a brief trading update, telling us less than usual since they report on the last nine months but omit any details on the third quarter by itself. Sales are said to be up 10 percent on an “underlying” basis — but after six months, sales were up 17 percent on an “underlying” basis and only 7 percent on an actual, reported basis. Higher ed sales continue to decline — from a low comparison bar — falling 7 percent “as growth in international courseware, including Canada and the UK, was offset by a decline in US Higher Education Courseware.” […]
Scholastic Sales Rise on Trade and Education
Scholastic reported results for their first first quarter, ending August 31, traditionally their smallest reporting period, with sales rising measurably. They had revenues of $260 million, compared to $215 million a year ago. Trade sales rose almost 20 percent to $93 million (compared to $73.3 million a year ago), attributed to backlist and strong series sales, with their education solutions division gaining $26.5 million, at $80 million for the period. “Summer learning product offerings [were] bolstered by federal government funding for K-12 schools,” the company noted. The higher sales help to mitigate the seasonal loss: The pre-tax loss was $(33.3) […]
After Record Growth, News Corp to “Return Proceeds to Shareholders”
News Corp announced Wednesday that, as a result of booming revenues, the company is “returning proceeds to shareholders,” ceo Robert Thomson said during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia Conference. Since 2020 was “the best year since the reincarnation of News Corp in 2013,” with EBITDA up 26 percent, the board of directors has authorized a new $1 billion stock repurchase program. This plan replaces a $500 million stock repurchase program that went into effect in 2013. News Corp’s stock had gone down 10.1 percent over the past three months, and rose 0.6 percent after this announcement. At the Communacopia Conference, Thomson […]
Streaming, Print Revenues Up at Storytel, But Moderated Forecast Hits Stock
Swedish ebook streaming service and publisher Storytel reported results for the second quarter ended June 30, with streaming sales of SEK545.5 million ($64.7 million), up from SEK459.1 million a year ago, or 18.8 percent. Print publishing sales were SEK149.96 million, up from SEK126.74 million, or 18.3 percent. Pre-tax loss for the quarter was SEK(132.8) million, compared to a loss of SEK(72.6) million in Q2 2020. (As in the past, the company expects loss while in this growth mode.) During the quarter, Storytel acquired Finnish publisher Aula & Co. They expect the partnership with Spotify, announced in May, to be implemented […]