Scholastic reported results for the third quarter ending February 29, and announced cost and service cuts due to the pandemic: “We are taking aggressive actions to reduce operating expenses throughout the company, including the temporary closing of warehousing and distribution centers, and a freeze on hiring, travel and other discretionary spending not directly tied to short-term revenue, while working hard to ensure the safety and well-being of our staff worldwide,” ceo Richard Robinson said in the release. Overall sales for the quarter were $373 million, up $13 million compared to a year ago. Trade sales were even stronger — at […]
Publishers
International: Bloomsbury Performance “In Line with Expectations,” Some Orders from China Resume, and More
Bloomsbury offered a brief trading update, in advance of their full annual results May 20. Performance for the fiscal year ended February 29 is “in line with the Board’s expectations,” and “Bloomsbury’s financial position is strong with net cash of £31 million at 29 February 2020,” even after having paid £1.2 million for the acquisition of Oberon Books this past December. The release says: “It is unclear how coronavirus will affect our numbers as it is early in the new financial year. There is disruption to bookshops, online retailers and academic institutions, whilst on the other hand, reading books, including […]
China Literature’s Annual Results Show Double-Digit Growth
China Literature, China’s largest online publishing and ebook platform, reported results for the year ended December 31, 2019. Sales for the company were RMB8.348 billion ($1.197 billion) in 2019, a 65.7 percent increase over the prior year. Operating profit was RMB1.194 billion ($171.1 million), a 7.1 percent increase. More than half those sales, however, $634 million in all, were from IP operations, which were mostly earned by New Classics Media (NCM), the major Chinese TV and film production studio the company acquired in October 2018 to create downstream opportunities from its content library. Sales from IP operations increased 341 percent year-over-year. […]
McGraw-Hill Reports Slower Sales Decline in 2019
McGraw-Hill reported Q4 earnings and its annual report for 2019, with full-year revenue of $1.571 billion, down from $1.597 billion in 2018. Though the decline moderated this year, it marks the sixth year of falling sales for the company. In 2017, sales had been $1.719 billion. This will be the last time the company’s fiscal year ends December 31. They are revising their fiscal year to end March 31, to “better align with seasonal industry cycles.” After the close of the next quarter, they will issue a revised annual report covering the new fiscal year. They have also changed for […]
Wiley Reports a Favorable Third Quarter
Wiley reported earnings for the third quarter ended January 31, with overall sales of $467 million, above analysts’ expectations. Operating income was $48.5 million, down from $50.4 million in last year’s quarter. The company had restructuring charges of $3.3 million, and they raised their guidance for full-year adjusted earnings by 10 cents a share. Thirty minutes after open, the stock was up modestly on the news, trading about 2 percent higher than yesterday’s close. What Wiley calls education publishing showed some improvement, with sales of $101 million, up from $95.6 million last year. (They changed their reporting at the beginning […]
Bonnier Books Reports Improved Sales and Profit for 2019
The Bonnier Group released full year 2019 earnings in late February, with Bonnier Books reporting sales of SEK 5.77 billion ($611 million), up from SEK 5.52 billion ($634 million) in 2018. Operating profit (EBITA) improved more, increasing to SEK 250 million from SEK 148 million last year, despite “investments in growth and a declining market for physical book retail in the Nordic countries.” Bonnier Books in Germany had its best results in ten years, and in the UK, the company reported “increased sales and a positive result, following changes that were initiated in 2018,” apparently making good on Bonnier Books […]