Lagardere reported first-half of the year results after the close of the market in France on Thursday. Sales at Lagardere Publishing were 547 million euros in the second quarter (up 37 million euros), down 3.4 percent on a like-for-like basis for the quarter but up 7.1 percent in actual results on the strength of the US dollar and pound sterling. For the first half of the year, sales were 968 million euros (also up 7.1 percent but down on a like-for-like basis), but earnings fell to just 36 million euros, down 28 percent from 50 million euros a year ago (which itself […]
Publishers
For Now, Profits Rise On Lower Sales for Mondadori’s Publishing
As Italy’s Mondadori waits on today’s board review of their offer to buy the book publishing operations of rival RCS, the company reported results for the first half of 2015. Book division sales of 123 million euros were down 4.3 percent compared to 128.5 million euros a year ago, but EBITDA increased significantly, to 8.5 million euros (up 3.4 million euros), attributed to their “radical restructuring process” as they continued their “actions aimed at reducing fixed costs and cost of personnel.” They took 3.2 million euros in restructuring costs during the period. eBook sales rose 18.6 percent in the first […]
Currency Lifts Pearson
Following their big news Thursday on the sale of the FT Group to Nikkei, Pearson reported half-year 2015 results on Friday morning. (Bloomberg gets detailed background on the FT sale process, and says that Nikkei’s final bid — £100 million more than Axel Springer’s offer — topped Pearson’s own asking price of £800 million.) Pearson’s sales of £2.157 billion were up 5 percent versus $2.047 billion a year ago, and up a slimmer 1 percent on a currency neutral basis. The company stands by its earlier guidance for full-year results. Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations was down £1 million to […]
Corporate: Scholastic Ends Year on a Flat Note; Bloomsbury Update
Scholastic reported fourth-quarter and full-year results on Thursday morning. With the recent quarter dominated by their by big EdTech sale to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, sales from continuing operations were marginally below flat at $488 million, with operating income down 12 percent to $33.5 million (attributed primarily to foreign exchange impact in their international division, due to the strong dollar). Among the one-time charges incurred in the quarter was a pretax severance expense of $5.3 million, as part of their ongoing cost reduction and restructuring programs. Full-year sales from continuing operations were $1.64 billion, up 5 percent from $1.56 billion in […]
Back to the Basics At Barnes: What’s Been Lost In the eBook Era?
On or about September 1 Barnes & Noble Inc. will return to its roots as a chain of retail bookstores, following the spinoff of Barnes & Noble Education and the nearly-complete winding down of the Nook experiment. So we thought it would be interesting to turn back the reporting clock and see what’s happened to BN Retail — and other major book chains — since the beginning of the modern eBook Era, as a lens for how to view Barnes & Noble’s prospects going forward. Barnes & Noble first became a different company in 2009, when they bought the privately-held BN College. […]
Foreign Exchange Holds Down Wiley Sales, As Book Sales Continue Decline
Wiley reported fourth quarter sales for the period ending April 30, with sales falling 3 percent to $442 million (down $15 million) on currency exchange, as half their sales come from the weaker pound and euro. Adjusted operating income of $63 million was flat for the quarter, and net income was up $2 million to $48 million. The company took another restructuring charge of $4.9 million in the period “for severance and other costs related to reorganization and consolidation across the business,” the latest in $29 million worth of restructuring charges during the fiscal year. In the professional development division, […]