Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported third quarter results on Thursday morning, with sales just below flat at $532 million (down $1 million) and net income just above flat at $90.5 million (up $500,000). The company announced a modest adjustment to their ongoing “restructuring plan,” now expecting total charges of between $45 million and $49 million, or $4 million higher. The increase is “primarily due to a change in the estimate of office space that the company will be able to vacate along with higher cost of implementation.” The small trade division continues to perform well this year, with third quarter sales […]
Publishers
Corporate: Potter Still Powers Bloomsbury, and More
Bloomsbury reported results for the first six months of their fiscal year, through August 31, as yet another good sales period for Harry Potter titles drove higher sales for the company. Revenues of £72.1 million were up from £62.7 million a year ago. Children’s trade sales rose approximately £7.9 million, to £31.7 million, as Harry Potter revenues rose 40 percent. Adult trade was just below flat at £13 million (down £0.4 million). Despite the sales growth, profit still lags. While better than the same period a year ago, profit before tax was £1.7 million. Release Separately, the court has posted […]
Pearson Offers Glimmer of Stability, PRH Sales “Down Slightly”
In what counts as good news after a long run of profit warnings and disappointments, Pearson told investors they were raising the lower end of their profit guidance for the year by £30 million. “Whilst we anticipate the underlying structural pressures in US higher education courseware will persist in the medium term, the relative strength of trading in this business is helping our profits this year.” CEO John Fallon reiterates the challenges they face, and the hope to remain standing as the biggest company in a shrinking space: “We expect tough market conditions in our biggest business to continue over […]
WH Smith May Trim Inventory, Stores
UK retailer WH Smith reported annual results through August 31. In line with the long-term trend for Smith, their growing travel store business added more sales than their slowly declining high street bookstore business lost. For the first time, travel is the larger segment, with sales of £624 million, versus high street sales of £610 million (down from £639 million a year ago, or 5 percent). High street “trading profits” (before unallocated costs, finance costs and taxation) were flat, at £62 million, though that was with another £12 million of cost savings. The company make clear that “over the next […]
Scholastic Returns to Normal Sales, with Higher Loss
Scholastic reported fiscal first quarter sales through August 31, returning to a normal quarter after last year’s boost from the release of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Sales were $189 million — down from $283 million a year ago, but close to the $191 million in the same quarter two years ago. The company traditionally has a seasonal loss in the first quarter while school is out of session, though this time losses were heavier at $102 million — compared to $62.5 million last year, and $79.5 million the year before that. But the analyst still covering the stock […]
Same Story: Book Publishing Continues Decline At Wiley
Wiley reported fiscal first quarter sales on Friday, with sales of $411 million, up $7 million from a year ago, but lower operating income, at $14.5 million down from $43.8 million in 2016. The gap was attributable to $29 million of restructuring and related charges, from their “operational excellence initiatives.” Their book publishing business continues its steady decline: STM and professional publishing fell 10 percent to $63.6 million, as education publishing fell 17 percent to $45.7 million, for a combined decline of $16.3 million. Release