Publishers

Lagardere Publishing issued their brief third quarter trading update on Thursday afternoon, celebrating record third quarter sales of €811 million, up 6 percent compared to €765 million for the same period a year ago. The company reports that, “All business segments contributed to the growth effort, with General Literature enjoying very good performances in the United States and France.” The acquisition of Union Square (and 999 Games) added €15 million in the quarter, while the declining US dollar and British pound cost €19 million in negative currency effect. In the US, ceo David Shelley reports that, “HBG had a fantastic […]

Scholastic announced results for the first quarter ended August 31–a typically softer period–with $226 million in sales, down 5 percent. The operating loss was down 4 percent to $(92.2) million, as expected, and the loss excluding one-time items improved by 4 percent to $(81.9) million. In the Children’s Book Publishing and Distribution segment, sales gained 4 percent to $109 million. Trade sales were almost flat at $73.5 million. School Reading Events sales were up 14 percent to $36 million, with $34 million in Book Fairs (up 18 percent due to the redemption of rewards at the fairs) and $1.8 million […]

Wiley announced earnings for the first quarter ended July 31, with sales down 2 percent to $397 million, again due to lost revenue from their divested businesses. Operating income grew 7 percent to $31 million and income before taxes was $18 million, compared to $23 million last year. Wiley has continued to partner with AI companies, including a deal with Anthropic that was announced in July. They also said that they executed a $20 million AI licensing project with an unnamed “large tech company…on behalf of publisher partners” and now have deals with three of the world’s largest tech companies […]

Bertelsmann reported results for the first half of 2025 on Thursday morning, with sales at Penguin Random House of €2.322 billion up €46 million, or 2 percent, lifted by the company’s continuing acquisitions. Operating EBITDA fell €36 million, down to €255 million, “primarily due to lower revenues and growth-related expenses in the core US business” according to the company. In a note to employees, PRH ceo Nihar Malaviya wrote that, “our overall profitability is under pressure, declining 12%…due to rising costs in nearly all areas of our business.” In the US. Hay House, acquired in 2024, “was able to fully […]

News Corp announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full year 2025, with fourth quarter publishing sales at Harper Collins down 4 percent to $494 million, due to a strong comparative period, softer consumer sales, and “fewer notable frontlist titles,” partially offset by $4 gain from currency fluctuations. EBITDA fell 12 percent to $50 million. Brian Murray discussed the sales trend with PL. “We definitely felt the momentum in the marketplace cool off,” he said, noting that “industry-wide promotions in May just didn’t deliver,” from multiple major retailers. And “Prime Days also didn’t quite deliver the same way” they […]

Swedish audiobook company Storytel announced financial results for the second quarter. Sales grew 4 percent to SEK958 million, or 8 percent at constant currency, due to “healthy growth in the Streaming segment due to strong growth in subscriber intake and a solid development in the Publishing segment.” Bokfabriken, which Storytel acquired in Q1, contributed SEK10.6 million. Operating profit was up 75 percent to SEK82 million and EBITDA grew 46 percent to SEK161 million. “We have delivered a robust financial performance, driven by a high subscriber intake, solid EBITDA growth and strong cash generation giving us the strategic possibility to invest […]