Scholastic reported 4th quarter and full year earnings on July 25. As the company warned when it revised guidance at the end of May, Q4 operating income dropped precipitously, to $32 million, compared to $73.9 million a year ago, mostly due to sales tax collection issues, as well as ASC 606 accounting changes and increased promotional spend at book fairs. Sales were also down in Q4, to $470.7 million, compared to $496.2 million in fiscal 2018. For the full year, sales increased 2 percent to $1.65 billion, thanks to “a great year for trade publishing globally,” according to chairman Dick […]
Publishers
Profits Slide In First Half for Lagardere Publishing
Lagardere reported second quarter and half year results on Thursday afternoon, with book publishing sales of €584 million up €26 million from a year ago, mostly due to the strengthening US dollar, along with gains from the recently-acquired Gigamic and Worthy Publishing Group. For the first half of the year, recurring group EBIT fell €9 million however, down to €36 million. The drop in earnings was attributed to “higher launch costs for Partworks and a negative timing effect in France linked to costs incurred to prepare the curriculum reform.” Outside of recurring profits, Lagardere Publishing also incurred €7 million in […]
People, Etc.
John McKay has joined the Association of American Publishers (AAP) as senior vice president, communications. He was most recently an executive officer with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Previously, he was a vp of communications for both NBC Universal and Sony Music Entertainment. Nancy Ellwood has joined Arcadia Publishing to launch a new local publishing program for children. She was previously editorial director at DK. Arcadia president and ceo David Steinberger said in the release, “Retailers everywhere are telling us that their customers are hungry for local content, and we keep getting asked to add a hyper-local program for […]
Wiley’s Publishing Decline Continues, But CEO Sees Turnaround
Wiley reported 4th quarter and full-year earnings for the period ending April 30. First, the quarter: Q4 sales were $491.2 million, up slightly from last quarter’s $477.3 million but only because of $18 million extra revenue from the Learning House acquisition. Net income was $63.2 million, up from $54.1 million in Q4 2018. But publishing sales continued to decline further still; STM and professional publishing sales were down 2 percent, to $68.2 million from $71.5 million (much improved from Q3’s 20 percent decline), and education publishing sales were $29.8 million, down from $35.3 million. Turning to the full year, revenue […]
Scholastic Sharply Reduces Earnings Guidance
Ahead of formally reporting results for their big fiscal fourth quarter, which ends May 31, Scholastic announced a sharp reduction in their estimates of earnings for the year. The fourth quarter is “typically” when they earn most of their operating income for the year. Shares fell over 10 percent in the first hour of trading on Friday, down about $4.00 a share, which would be the stock’s lowest level since 2014 if it holds. Earnings per share, excluding one-time items, is now expected to range from $0.83 to $1.03 a share — down significantly from the already-softened forecast last quarter […]
Bloomsbury Beats Expectations, Despite Decline in Trade Profit and Sales
Bloomsbury reported full-year results for the period ending February 28, 2019, beating analysts expectations on profit. Earnings before taxation and one-off charges was £14.4 million, up from £13.2 million the year before. Charges included legal and other fees and restructuring costs related to the acquisition of I.B. Tauris in May 2018. Sales for the year were £162.7 million, up £1.2 million from the prior year, slightly below expectations. But in the trade books division, sales of £99.3 million were down £2.9 million, and EBITDA before charges was £11.5, down from £12.1 in the prior year. The results were weighed down […]