Wiley reported second quarter sales through October 31 on Wednesday morning, continuing the pattern from the first quarter of fiscal 2017. Sales of $425.6 million were down $7.8 million (or 2 percent) from a year ago, with a net loss of -$11.45 million (compared to a profit of $43.6 million a year ago). “Adjusted” net income — if you adjust out all of the bad things that actually happened during the quarter — rose slightly on a per share basis. Special charges included $48 million for losing on an unfavorable tax ruling in Germany; $6.8 million on their recurring restructuring […]
Publishers
Pottermore Reports Another Big Loss, Still Promising Turnaround
A year ago JK Rowling’s representatives were insisting the worst was behind them after reporting a significant annual loss for Pottermore, citing “recording breaking sales in December 2015” — and now the turnaround story is being pitched again. They are “on the path to profitability” for the fiscal year ending March 2017, but as for the just-reported year ending March 2016 (Companies House filings in the UK have a long time lag), they lost money again. Sales did indeed rise significantly, to £15.1 million pounds, but the site still incurred a pre-tax loss of £4.9 million. In the prior year, […]
Potter and Education Lift Lagardere Publishing
Lagardere reported third quarter results, with the publishing division reporting “a strong quarter with double-digit growth,” based on a few gifts: They gained from publishing the Harry Potter play script in the UK and export territories, and from “the effects of curricular reform in France,” plus the unit continued to benefit from a strong dollar and the acquisition of the Perseus imprints. Perseus looks to have added €18 million in the quarter (after contributing €22 million in the second quarter), with the acquisition of Neon Play in the UK adding modestly to results as well. But the continuing decline in the British […]
A Mixed Quarter for Harper, As Profits Rebound On Declining Sales
HarperCollins’ parent company News Corp. reported fiscal first quarter results on Monday after the close of the market, with mixed results for the book publishing unit. Sales of $389 million were down $20 million from the first quarter a year ago — blamed on the “the absence of revenues from Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee,” which they now say generated $32 million in sales in fiscal Q1 2016. Note, however, that this time a year ago, adjusted sales declined $7 million even with strong sales for Watchman, so the bar was set low. (Then they blamed the dropoff in […]
Springsteen Helps S&S To a Strong Third Quarter
Simon & Schuster’s parent company CBS reported third quarter sales after the close of the market on Thursday, with book publishing revenues rising 11 percent to $226 million from $203 million a year ago, good enough to turn sales positive for the year-to-date. Operating income also grew modestly, by $1 million, up to $44 million, “as the increase in revenues was largely offset by higher production and selling costs.” As in the prior quarter, digital revenues comprised 23 percent of sales. Both print and digital sales grew and key titles for the quarter included what CBS ceo Les Moonves called “the […]
Houghton Slashes Expectations Again After Poor Quarter; Stock Falls Sharply
After a job-ending $40 million reduction in expectations for former ceo Linda Zecher followed by a warning from the board that things might be even worse, those ominous signals (“Considering the importance of the third quarter, HMH plans to provide a further update on its expected financial performance for the full year when it issues its third quarter earnings in November 2016”) bore out poorly on Thursday morning for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The company lowered their forecast for the year dramatically again in reporting those third quarter results “in light of weaker-than-expected results in the domestic education market,” now expecting sales […]