Scholastic reported earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021, ending May 31, with sales of $401 million, rebounding strongly from $284 million a year ago — the first pandemic quarter — up 41% percent. In a release, the company cites “improving market conditions, strong demand for foundational literacy programs and summer reading, and top selling trade titles.” The company showed operating income of $9.7 million, back in the black compared to an operating loss a year ago of $46.2 million. Earnings were still held back by one-time pre-tax items, including settlement charges of $20 million “related to intellectual property […]
Publishers
Bloomsbury Up 28% In First Third
Bloomsbury issued a trading update ahead of today’s annual meeting, reporting sales for the four month period ending June 30, with trade sales of £39.7 million, up 26 percent from £31.5 million last year. Adult trades revenues rose 17 percent and children’s sales were up 32 percent. Company-wide sales of ¢63 million were up 28 percent, from £49.5 million a year ago. Their recent acquisitions of Head of Zeus added £859,000 in consumer adult sales, and Red Globe Press added £478,000 to the non-consumer academic and professional segment. They still “are actively targeting further acquisition opportunities in line with our […]
McGraw Hill Reports Q4
In advance of the closing of their pending sale of McGraw Hill to Platinum Equity, the company reported fourth quarter and full-year results. As of March 31, their total debt had a face value of $2.159 billion. They paid debt service of $227 million in the fiscal year, and ended the year with $354 million of cash. The risk factors section notes plainly, “We are a leveraged company that has substantial indebtedness.” Higher ed sales were $649 million in the year, and K-12 sales were $584 million. Like HMH, Pearson and other education companies, McGraw Hill touts its digital transformation […]
Wiley Reports a Strong Fourth Quarter, with a Favorable Outlook
Wiley reported fourth quarter and fiscal year results for the period ended April 30, with sales of $536 million, up from $474.6 million, a 13 percent increase, including $14.8 million in foreign exchange variance and acquisitions. Operating income was $51.2 million, improved from a loss of ($170.7) million a year ago, and adjusted EBITDA was $112.7 million, up from $92.8 million. Academic & Professional Learning (which includes trade books) grew 15 percent as reported, “driven by strong growth in Education Publishing and trade publishing, accompanied by further recovery in corporate training.” For the full year, sales were $1.94 billion, up […]
Bloomsbury Acquires Head of Zeus for £8.45 Million, As Sales Rose 14 Percent for the Year
Bloomsbury announced the acquisition of Head of Zeus, founded nine years ago by Anthony Cheetham, for £8.45 million. They paid £5.5 million in cash, with another £1.1 million payable post completion, “subject to working capital and other considerations,” and up to £0.75 million in deferred, contingent consideration. They also paid off loans of £1.1 million. In 2020, Head of Zeus had sales of £8.6 million and profit before tax of £0.3 million. Head of Zeus will operate as an independent imprint in Bloomsbury’s consumer division. Bloomsbury ceo Nigel Newton says in the announcement, “Bloomsbury will be able to provide the […]
Storytel Streaming Sales Increase 20 Percent in Q1
Swedish ebook streaming service and publisher Storytel reported results for the first quarter ended March 31, with streaming sales of SEK517.1 million ($62.1 million), up 20.5 percent from SEK429.3 million a year ago. Print publishing sales were SEK125.2 million, up from SEK114.7 million, gaining 9.1 percent. Pre-tax loss for the quarter was SEK(73.5) million, compared to a loss of SEK(37.5) million in Q1 2020. (Still in growth mode, the company doesn’t consider earnings a key performance indicator.) During the quarter, Storytel acquired a majority stake in Swedish publishing house Lind & Co., and added a new market, Israel, following the […]