Publishers

ViacomCBS reported fourth quarter and full-year earnings on Wednesday afternoon, with sales at Simon & Schuster hitting an all-time high of $901 million for the year, up almost 11 percent from $814 million a year ago. With S&S now classified as discontinued operations, due to the pending sale to Penguin Random House, the parent company did not provide their usual commentary. Sales for the quarter were $252 million, well up from $215 million last year (and still ahead of the $235 million recorded two years ago). Adjusted OIBDA looks to have been $41 million — the company did not explicitly […]

HMH reported earnings for the recent quarter and full year, with fourth quarter sales of $204 million, down from $241 million, or 16 percent. The quarterly net loss was $(83) million, better than the $(125) million loss last year, including an impairment charge for goodwill of $17 million for the quarter (impairment totaled $279 million for the year), “a direct result of the adverse impact that the COVID-19 pandemic had on our company.” For the year, sales were $1.03 billion, down from $1.39 billion, with a net loss of $(480) million, down from $(214) million. At HMH Books & Media, […]

McGraw Hill reported results for their fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2020, with sales of $363 million, compared to $365 million the previous period. Improvements in higher ed and K-12 were not enough to offset declining sales in the international and global professional businesses. Earnings improved, as adjusted EBITDA registered $565,000, compared to a loss of $(24) million, while net income was $18 million compared to a loss of $(40) million. Operating and administration expenses were substantially reduced, to $198 million compared to $255 million last year. About half of the savings were attributed to “strategic headcount reductions,” Covid-related […]

The Bonnier Group released full year 2020 earnings last week, with Bonnier Books reporting sales of SEK6.11 billion ($664 million), up from SEK5.77 billion ($611 million) in 2019, driven mainly by the publishing business and the audio and e-book service BookBeat. As we’ve seen in the US, increased ebook sales combined with cost-cutting improved profitability. Operating profit (EBITA) was SEK392 million, up from SEK250 million — or 12 percent, which the company said was due to increased market shares, accelerated sales of digital formats, and consistent cost reductions. Bonnier Books in Germany had their best sales and earnings yet. In […]

In line with a strong holiday for book sales, HarperCollins reported a big fiscal second quarter: Sales reached $540 million, up $102 million over the same quarter last year, and EBITDA rose to $104 million, compared to $63 million a year ago. (The holiday quarter in 2019 was a soft one for the publisher, however; two years ago they had second quarter sales of $496 million and EBITDA of $88 million.) The sales increase included $13 million from recent acquisitions (the Egmont businesses bought earlier in the year) and $5 million in foreign exchange gains. Acquisitions added $3 million to […]

Welbeck Publishing Group reported financial results for the first time since its launch, following operations since the acquisition of Carlton Books and Andre Deutsch on April 1, 2019. For nine months of operations, they recorded sales of £13 million and operating profit of £1.3 million, which they call “solid… despite the vagaries of the pandemic.” The company reports, “The illustrated business continued its historical robustness, and the combined business delivered a well-balanced result for the year.” Executive directors Mark Smith and Marcus Leaver commented: “We have seen a successful integration of Carlton Books into WPG and we’re both pleased with […]