Simon & Schuster’s parent company CBS reported first quarter results after the close of the market on Tuesday, with the publisher reporting flat sales of $145 million, as operating income was up $1 million to $13 million, “primarily reflecting lower production and selling costs” and driven by “operating efficiencies.” While sales were even with a year ago, that was a modest bar (since they had sales of $153 million in Q1 2014; $171 million in Q1 2013; and $176 million in Q1 2012). CEO Carolyn Reidy acknowledged to us the opening quarter has been soft “for the last couple of years” while adding […]
Publishers
Corporate: Pearson Has Expected Q1 Decline, As CBS Considers Buyout of Redstone Shares
Pearson issued a first quarter “trading update” in connection with their annual meeting. As expected, results were weak, with overall sales down 6 percent, “in line with expectations.” They say Penguin Random House “had a solid first-quarter performance with a strong bestseller performance and net integration benefits partly offset by reduced demand for ebooks, following industry-wide changes in terms in 2015.” In other corporate news, Reuters reported exclusively that CBS has held “preliminary and ongoing” discussions with investment bankers in recent months regarding “how it could buy CBS’s voting shares from Redstone’s National Amusements Inc, and collapse CBS’s dual-class share […]
Trade Gains Lift Scholastic’s Sales, on Narrower Seasonal Loss
Scholastic reported fiscal third quarter results on Thursday, with sales up $19.5 million to $366 million, as losses from continuing operations were cut by over half to 21 cents a share, compared to 48 cents a share a year ago. The operating loss of $16.4 million was also well below last year’s deficit this quarter of $24.7 million. (Scholastic typically reports a seasonal loss in the third quarter, which is generally its weakest.) The strong US dollar cost the company $9 million in negative foreign exchange. Fiscal 2016 sales are still projected to be roughly $1.65 billion, but the company reduced earnings guidance […]
Penguin Random House Sales Rise On Currency Boost
Bertelsmann reported 2015 sales on Tuesday morning, with headline results for Penguin Random House showing sales of €3.717 billion — up 393 million — and operating ebitda of €557 million, up €105 million. (Note that we mentioned throughout 2015 that the rising dollar alone could lift PRH’s sales by €350 million to €400 million or more, which was pretty much on target.) Traditionally most of the trade reporting you’ll read on the PRH results comes from the earnings press release, but we turn to the company’s 140-page annual report for more granular detail on the book publisher’s performance. Sales at […]
Quarto’s Sales Rise On Acquisition, As Chadwick Will Exit Board
Quarto reported sales of $182 million for 2015, up $11 million over the previous year, with operating profit of $16 million just above flat. Sales were lifted by the acquisition of Ivy Press early in 2015, which added $8 million in sales. (Quarto paid $1.9 million for Ivy Press in 2015, along with the assumption of $300,000 in debt.) The core publishing groups in the US and UK, along with the co-editions unit, had sales of $145 million, up $17 million for the year, while sales declined almost $8 million at the Books & Gifts Direct business. Looking ahead, the […]
Profits Flat At Lagardere Publishing
Lagardere reported 2015 profits after the close of the market in France, after having reported sales on their own in February. Lagardere Publishing had flat earnings on higher sales, with recurring EBIT of €198 million (up 1 million), and €16 million of charges for nonrecurring items. As previously reported publishing sales were €2.206 billion — up just 1.7 percent on a like-for-like basis, but €202 million euros overall. (Foreign exchange accounted for a big €140 million of those gains, and acquisitions added €28 million.) With the increase in sales, Lagardere Publishing’s operating margin was 9 percent, down form 9.8 percent a year […]