Lagardere Publishing reported fourth quarter and full-year sales results on Thursday (and, in the European tradition, will not report earnings and complete 2018 details until March). Fourth quarter publishing sales of €645 million were €21 million higher than a year ago, with €10 million of that gain coming from recent acquisitions (Worthy Publishing, Kyle Cathie, Jessica Kingsley and Summersdale). But that was not enough to avoid a decline in full year sales, at €2.252 billion, €37 million lower than a year ago. Acquisitions added €30 million during the year, but foreign exchange — “mainly” a softening US dollar — reduced […]
Publishers
Pearson’s January Trading Report: “There Is Still Much to Do”
Pearson issued their traditional January “trading report,” with highlight data in advance of a full annual report on February 22. It brings familiar news regarding 2018 performance: The company remains adept at cutting costs, but not yet at increasing revenue, as the declining US higher ed market continues to weigh on their prospects. US higher ed courseware is expected to be down 5 percent year on year, a greater decline than expected by analysts. Pearson expects that trend will continue through 2019 as the long digital transformation continues: “Expect US HECW revenue to be zero to down 5% as underlying […]
Scholastic Q2 Results Flat, with Continued Trade Growth
Scholastic reported Q2 results for the period ending November 30, 2018, again showing strong results in children’s trade books, which is a modest part of their overall sales, which were up slightly overall. Second quarter revenue was $604.7 million, an increase of 1 percent compared to $598.3 million in the second quarter of 2018 – despite a negative affect from the new ASC 606 revenue recognition guidelines. The new accounting rules lowered revenues by $10.8 million in the quarter, whereas in the first quarter the rules changes had added $9.3 million to sales. Adjusted EBITDA was $123.2 million for the […]
Earnings Fall At Wiley, With New Restructuring Charge
Wiley reported fiscal second quarter earnings Wednesday morning (not expecting that financial markets would be closed in honor of the late President Bush). Sales of $449 million were down by $3 million, as operating income of $57.5 million was down $23.3 million. They took $10 million of restructuring charges in the quarter, $8.7 million of that for severance, “reflecting continued cost reduction actions across the business.” ($5.2 million of those charges were against corporate expenses; $1.4 million was for the publishing division.) Foreign exchange reduced sales by $8.7 million. In advance of the formal SEC filing, this time Wiley’s press […]
Orwell Licensing Agreements Boost Trade Sales $15 Million at HMH
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported Thursday its operating and financial results for the third quarter ended September 30. Sales were flat, at $516 million — stable compared to the dark days of Q3 2016. Though net income was down 5 percent, or $4 million, to $86 million, earnings were still ahead of analysts’ diminished expectations and the stock is up sharply Thursday morning on the relief. After trading down to all-time lows after the second quarter results, shares are up about 20 percent in the first hour. Trade sales, which were weak last quarter, recorded a significant one-time boost, up $15 million, […]
Lagardere Publishing “Retreated” As Expected, But HBG USA Gains
Lagardere Publishing reported third quarter results on Thursday for the period ending September 30. Sales of €607 million were down 6.1 percent compared to €646 a year ago (and a big €675 in 2016), due to an expected weakness in European educational sales. The lack of curriculum reform in France accounted for that division’s decline of (14.7 percent), with weak educational sales also weighing on sales in Spain/Latin America (down 8.2 percent), and the UK (down 6.7 percent). The UK trade division also had a “lighter release schedule.” But HBG USA had a “sparkling performance,” up 5.1 percent for the quarter, […]