Wiley announced fiscal fourth-quarter sales for the period ending April 30 of $475 million, compared to $491 million in the same period a year ago — a 3 percent decline, or 6 percent when acquisitions and $7 million in foreign exchange impact are taken into account. They incurred a big net loss of ($158) million, compared to net income of $63 million last year. As expected given global school and office shutdowns, education publishing was down 12 percent, to $84 million from $95 million, and professional learning declined 23 percent, to $66 million. The net loss reflects approximately $110 million […]
Publishers
Bloomsbury Reports Modest Earnings Growth, While Planning for 65 Percent Sales Decline through July
Bloomsbury reported results for the full year ending February 29, with flat sales of £162.8 million, and pre-tax earnings of £13.2 million, up from £12 million a year ago. One-time charges of £2.5 million included amortization of acquired intangible assets of £1.7 million, acquisitions-related costs of £0.6 million, and coronavirus-related costs of £0.2 million. Adult trade sales were billed as “strong,” with sales of £37.4 million, up from £33.5 million last year, and profit before tax and charges of £1.6 million, up from £0.9 million. Children’s trade declined, however, for the second year running. Sales were £59.4 million, down from […]
Storytel Subscriber List Grows as Lockdowns Encourage Streaming
Swedish ebook and audio streaming platform Storytel reported results for the first quarter of 2020, with net sales of SEK 513.2 million ($52.7 million), up 33.5 percent from SEK 385 million. (Announced this quarter, total sales accounting will now include the capitalization of developing its digital catalog, which was formerly reported as an expense and totaled SEK 46.8 million, not reflected above.) The EBITDA loss of SEK (31.1 million) was an improvement from SEK (67.9 million). To continue fueling its growth, the company completed a directed share issue February 20 that raised SEK 948 million before fees “and provided the […]
McGraw-Hill Shifts Fiscal Year
On the heels of its cancelled merger with Cengage, McGraw-Hill today issued a limited “preliminary Q4 and full-year report”– or otherwise put, announced that it is delaying full financial reporting for the quarter until mid-June, and changing their fiscal year. The company already reported a fourth quarter, ending December 31, back in early March — but the new report reflects a shift to a fiscal year ending March 31, which they say will better align with seasonal industry cycles. The preliminary report, which lacks full financials, touts their digital growth and provides minor updates on how COVID-19 has affected the […]
Harper Sees Sales Slide, Earnings Gain
Sales at HarperCollins fell modestly in their fiscal third quarter, at $412 million, their fourth straight quarterly decline, $9 million lower than a year ago. The company said the drop was “primarily due to the difficult comparisons to the prior year, which had higher sales of Rachel Hollis’ titles,” along with a $3 million negative effect from foreign exchange. But EBITDA actually gained, at $55 million up $2 milllion, “primarily due to the different mix of titles.” Digital sales rose 3 percent compared to a year ago, “primarily due to growth in downloadable audiobooks,” and comprised 23 percent of consumer […]
Simon & Schuster Gains In First Quarter, Performing Better Than Expected In Crisis
ViacomCBS reported first quarter results on Thursday morning, with publishing division Simon & Schuster recording sales of $170 million, up $6 million from a year ago, “reflecting 16 percent growth in digital sales.” Adjusted OIBDA was flat at $19 million. (A year ago, under the freestanding CBS, they reported the slightly different measure of operating income, which was $17 million.) Across the publisher’s units, ceo Carolyn Reidy notes that adult books were up 8 percent in the quarter and digital audio continued to rise considerably, as children’s publishing “was down a little,” and the international units “took the biggest hit […]