Houghton Mifflin Harcourt continued their string of disappointing results on Thursday morning, reporting poor fourth quarter earnings. Net sales of $242 million were down $56 million (or 19 percent) from a year ago. The continuing trouble at their legacy basal and supplemental education business helped lead to an operating loss of $251 million, $174 million more in losses than a year ago. The company took a $139 million non-cash impairment charge, “the result of our strategic decision to emphasize our world-leading HMH brand over legacy brands such as Holt McDougal and various supplemental brands.” With the help of tax benefits, […]
Publishers
Simon & Schuster Finishes with Declining Sales But Rising Profits
Sales at Simon & Schuster fell to $209 million in the fourth quarter, down $24 million compared a year ago. (In 2014, the company had sales of $215 million in the quarter.) CBS said in their release the decline reflected “a difficult comparison with the fourth quarter of 2015, which included the release of a bestselling title by Stephen King. Profits remained strong, though, growing by $2 million to $36 million, as “lower production costs offset the decline in revenues.” CEO Carolyn Reidy confirmed that “the only real shortfall” during the quarter was in their adult division and not having […]
Harper Regains Some Ground In Second Quarter
News Corp. reported results for their fiscal second quarter ending December 31 on Thursday after the close of the market. They cited “meaningful revenues at HarperCollins” as the publisher’s sales rebounded to $466 million (up $20 million from a year ago) and EBITDA of $75 million (up from $57 million a year ago). Those improvements put Harper close to a more typical holiday quarter; in 2015 the holiday quarter was a weak one for them, but two years ago they had a more normal Q2 performance, with sales of $469 million and EBITDA of $77 million. Profits were helped by both sales rebound […]
A Soft Finish for 2016 At Lagardere Publishing
Lagardere reported fourth quarter results after the close of the market in Paris on Thursday, with publishing division sales of 619 million euros down 1.9 percent (or €12 million), “as expected,” since they published a new Asterix in France in the final quarter of 2015. Acquisitions, including Perseus, added €22 million in the quarter, while they calculated a negative €26 million foreign exchange effect. HBG USA sales were down 12.4 percent in the final quarter, “held back by a less intensive release schedule than in fourth-quarter 2015, despite further growth in audiobooks and distribution.” Full-year publishing sales were €2.264 billion […]
Quarto to Sell Ailing Books & Gifts Direct; Peanuts Stake for Sale
After years of poor results from the Books & Gifts Direct business in Australia and New Zealand, Quarto announced preliminary agreement on a sale on that division, with the deal “anticipated to close in the coming weeks.” They are expected to receive a mere $1 million (Australian) in cash, plus $4.75 million “in interest-bearing loan notes which are repayable out of cash generated by the business.” Assuming that loan is repaid in full, Quarto will take a writedown of approximately $11 million (US). Otherwise, Quarto told investors they “expect to report profits in line with management expectations” for 2016. Good performance from the recently-acquired Harvard […]
Scholastic Gains On Smaller Potter Bump
Scholastic reported fiscal second quarter results Thursday morning, for the period through November 30, with another Harry Potter boost from Fantastic Beasts lifting sales, albeit less dramatically than the gains the previous quarter from HP and the Cursed Child. Sales of $623 million were up $21 million, or 3.5 percent, with operating profit of $111.4 million up $5.7 million. Trade publishing sales were $98.5 million — up $36.8 million “on the strength of Harry Potter publishing” (while in the previous quarter, Potter drove a $69.6 million gain). Strong trade sales helped make up for declines of $4.8 million in book fairs […]