Publishers

In reporting results for the first six months of 2022, Quarto followed the classic corporate move of burying the most interesting developments at the very bottom of their announcement. They will sell the toy imprint Smart Lab (acquired as part of Becker & Mayer), “in order to focus on our core publishing business.” The will also close their distribution service, “which will start to impact our sales from July 2022.” They have “received a non-binding offer” for Smart Lab and “a sale is expected to be completed by September 2022.” The business is carried at an asset value of $2.36 […]

News Corp. reported fourth quarter and full fiscal year earnings on Monday afternoon, with HarperCollins recording sales for $513 million for the quarter ending June 30, $20 million higher than a year ago — though down a little on an underlying basis. Sales are $20 million higher due to an additional week in the quarter, plus the acquisition of HMH added $14 million in the quarter. As we have noted previously, Harper is penalized by the strong dollar (whereas European-based publishers benefit), so there was a $16 million “impact” from currency fluctuations as well. Digital sales rose 9 percent for […]

Paramount reported second quarter earnings for the period ended June 30, with Simon & Schuster sales totaling $293 million, up 34 percent from $219 million last year. Operating income was $80 million, compared to $52 million in 2021, a 54 percent increase. According to a memo to staff from ceo Jonathan Karp, each of the company’s four divisions—adult, children’s, audio, and international—grew in the double digits. Sales of backlist titles popular on social media, predominantly “queen of TikTok” Colleen Hoover, drove results. “It Ends with Us, which we first published in 2016, was the bestselling novel in the trade paperback […]

Pearson announced results for the first half of the year, with sales of £1.79 billion, up 12 percent from the same period last year. Operating profit grew substantially from £9 million last year to £148 million (an increase from £107 million in 2020). Major restructuring costs affected last year’s profits—particularly reorganizing the business into five distinct segments—and this year’s increase is also attributed to “the net gain related to acquisitions and disposals compared to a loss in 2021.” Most business segments saw improvements in the period. Assessment & Qualifications grew 22 percent, including 45 percent growth in US Student Assessment, […]

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 […]