Publishers

Lagardere reported fourth quarter and full-year year results Thursday. For the quarter, sales at Lagardere Publishing were €677 million, up from €645 million. For the year, publishing sales were €2.384 billion, up €132 million from €2.252 billion last year, up 2.8 percent, like for like, and company attributed the growth to “a good performance in Education – particularly in France and Spain, the success of the new Asterix album, and sustained growth in Partworks and Mobile Games.” Annual revenue rose in France, but US sales were down 1 percent for the year, and UK sales were down 1.4 percent. E-books accounted […]

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported fourth quarter and full year earnings for 2019, with overall sales for the quarter of $241 million, down $8 million from a year ago, and another big net loss of ($125 million), more than double the loss of ($56 million) last year. The stock traded down 6 percent on the news, to approximately $5.40 a share. In the company’s modest trade business, sales for the quarter were $52.1 million, down from $60.3 million in 2018. For the year, sales of $180 million were down $19.7 million from $199.7 million in 2018 — or 9.9 percent, just […]

Pearson released 2019 preliminary results February 21, with sales decreasing to £3.87 billion from £4.13 billion in 2018. The bigger headline was operating profit, which fell by more than half, to £275 million from £553 million in 2018. Earnings per share fell even more, due to a one-time tax benefit the year before and higher net interest payable. The decline included £159 million in restructuring charges. Pearson’s stock traded fell over 5 percent today on the poor news, down to its lowest level in many years. Pearson had already reduced their 2020 guidance in an understated — and unrealistic — […]

Simon & Schuster’s remarkable streak of 19 consecutive quarters of earnings growth came to an end in the fourth quarter of 2019, reported this morning by new parent company ViacomCBS. Sales for the quarter were $215 million (down from $218 million in 2018, and $235 million in 2017), with adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization [OIBDA] of $34 million, a sharper decline from $48 million at the end of 2018. For the full year, sales fell $9 million to $814 million, and adjusted OIBDA of $143 million was $10 million lower. (Note that this is a revised way of […]

Reporting Q3 results, Cengage c.e.o. Michael Hanson said that the merger with McGraw-Hill was now expected to close in mid-2020, due to a slower-than-expected regulatory process. Previously the companies had announced an extension of their merger agreement to May, and Hansen said the agreement allowed for another extension to August 1. DOJ approval will likely require divestment of courses across the Cengage and McGraw-Hill portfolio, with an impact that Hansen said was too early to quantify. Cengage is already in talks with purchasers of perspective courses, and the rationale for the merger remains strong. “We remain confident, and are committed […]