CBS reported fourth quarter and full-year earnings on Thursday afternoon, with Simon & Schuster registering strong sales of $235 million in the final quarter, up $26 million from a year ago (helped in part by the addition of Adams Media, acquired in November 2016). Operating income was $44 million, up from $36 million at the end of 2016. For the full year, sales of $830 million were $63 million higher than a year ago, and operating income hit a new record of $132 million, up $13 million from a year ago. S&S had paid approximately $42 million to purchase Adams Media, […]
Publishers
Lagardere Publishing Finishes Just Above Flat on Acquisitions, As HBG USA Gains in Fourth Quarter
Lagardere Publishing reported fourth quarter and full-year sales results on Thursday (and, in the European tradition, will not report earnings and complete 2017 details until March). Acquisitions lifted the group just above previous results, rebounding from a soft third quarter, with fourth quarter sales of €624 million (up €5 million), and full year sales of €2.289 billion (up €25 million). Acquisitions added €7 million in the fourth quarter, and €33 million in the full year, meaning performance was down slightly without those additions. The company blames that on the weak British pound — and in the year to come the weaker US dollar will […]
Open Road Grows On New Business Lines, Reinvests to Grow More
Open Road celebrated a year in which refocusing on consumer marketing and continuing to build their customer base and service offerings has put the company in what they call “the most solid financial position of its history,” forecasting more “strong growth in the coming year.” In conjunction with that press release, ceo Paul Slavin and cfo Daniel Shemesh spoke with Publishers Lunch to share specific details about their performance for the first time. “It’s important we don’t get pegged as a publishing company, looking at unit sales,” Slavin said. “We’re about growing revenues by growing the number of consumers we […]
Corporate: Pearson Celebrates the Mediocre, UMB and Informa Try Again
Despite Pearson’s recent string of disappointing results, which have wiped out half of the company’s market value over the past two and half years, their official releases maintain an orderly calm, using various comparison stats to make their world seem stable. The newest trading update fits squarely in that genre; they expect that full-year earnings will be at the higher end of their very modest guidance — if only the dollar had not dropped in value against the pound, so actual profit is below that guidance (but it’s not their fault). And while they are “expecting growth” in 2018, given […]
Scholastic Slides On Potter Comp
Scholastic reported fiscal second quarter results on Thursday morning, with sales of $598 million down $25 million (or 4 percent) from a year ago. Operating profit from continuing operations was $107 million, down $5 million, and net income fell further, at $57.1 million, compared to $67.9 million a year ago. Results were below analysts’ expectation. Trade publishing sales were $80.9 million, down $17.6 million from a year ago — when the company benefited from Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them screenplay. Nonetheless, Scholastic said trade sales had “exceeded expectations with exceptionally strong performance […]
Wiley Gains on Better Than Expected Results
Wiley reported higher sales and better earnings than analysts were expecting for their fiscal second quarter and the stock gained almost five percent in trading on the news Thursday, coming close to the all-time high from early 2015. Sales were up 6 percent to $452 million, and adjusted net income of $59.3 million was up from $5.1 million a year ago. In a break with recent trends, STM publishing of $71.5 million was up $3.5 million, and education publishing of $57.7 million was just above flat. That included 5 percent growth in digital and “lower than expected declines in print.” At the same […]