Publishers

Swedish ebook and audio streaming platform Storytel reported earnings for the second quarter ending June 30, with net sales of SEK554 million ($63.4 million), up from SEK402 million in Q2 2019. EBITDA was a loss of SEK(37.8) million, improved from a loss of SEK(78.6) million last year’s quarter. The average number of paying subscribers was 1,257,000, up from 887,500 last year, or 42 percent. Streaming revenue was SEK459.1 million, up from SEK 320.1 million, or 43 percent, with the company forecasting 32 percent growth for the year as a whole. Print revenue — from Storytel-owned publishing houses Norstedts, People’s Press […]

HarperCollins’ parent company News Corp. reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings on the Thursday. The publisher saw sales decline only 3 percent, down by $12 million to $407 million. As with Simon & Schuster’s report in the morning, Harper increased earnings even as sales fell, with EBITDA of $47 million, compared to $43 million a year ago. The company said the earnings rise was “primarily due to cost savings and the mix of titles.” Sales were supported by “a great performance from our children’s division,” with books for children in high demand during the lockdown. Digital sales rose 26 percent in […]

ViacomCBS reported second quarter earnings on Thursday morning, with publisher Simon & Schuster recording sales of $200 million for the period, down 8 percent from $218 million a year ago. But  expenses were also lower so profits (OIBDA) rose, to $38 million, up from $35 million a year ago. The company said the 8 percent decline in the topline was “primarily driven by lower print book sales as a result of the impact of COVID-19, partially offset by growth in sales of electronic and digital audiobooks.” (That’s roughly in line with the 10 percent decline in the quarter reported this […]

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported earnings for the second quarter ending June 30. At HMH Books & Media, net sales were $35.2 million, down from $39.1 million. The 10 percent decline was “primarily due to lower net sales of both adult and young reader’s categories due to the closure of bookstores during the COVID-19 crisis and the corresponding delay in releases of new frontlist titles.” The net loss of $(1.8) million was an improvement from the loss of $(5.4) million last year’s Q2, largely due to improved margins and decreased selling and administration expense, thanks to “lower discretionary spending and labor […]

Lagardere reported second quarter and half-year 2020 results on Thursday afternoon. Second quarter publishing sales were €514 million, down €70 million from a year ago (a 12 percent decline), with trends pointing up sharply in June. Month by month, the company said sales fell 39 percent in April (at €109 million); were 22 percent lower in May (€162 million); and then gained 21 percent in June (€243 million), “lifted by a large number of best-sellers in France and abroad.” For the first half of the year, that put Lagardere Publishing at €971 million, down €73 million, or 7 percent, from […]

At Quarto, for the first six months of 2020, sales fell $9.5 million to $46.9 million, down 17 percent from the same period a year ago. The adjusted operating loss doubled, to $(1.8) million, though the company’s pre-tax loss was about even, given lower interest costs following their recapitalization in January. Chief executive C.K. Lau said in the release, “The drop in revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic has led us to initiate a number of cost management initiatives to tightly manage our cash flow.” They “expect the COVID-19 situation to continue to evolve and this prolonged uncertainty will create […]