In a short trading update, Pearson told investors that 2014 results should be in line with their previous guidance, yielding earnings per share of approximately £720m (of 66 pence a share). Their preliminary forecast for 2015 has earnings rising to between 75 and 80 pence per share. Chief executive John Fallon says in the release, “Despite continuing challenging market conditions, overall we had a good competitive performance in 2014 and expect to report results in line with the guidance we gave at the start of the year. We enter 2015 a simpler, leaner, more cash generative business, well set for long-term […]
Publishers
Briefs
Following Macmillan ceo John Sargent’s indication that they will, with some reluctance, “test subscription in the coming weeks,” Oyster announced that their collection now includes over 1,000 titles published by Bloomsbury. Harper UK has disclosed their annual results for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2014. Sales fell to £179 million, down £11 million from the prior year, while profits rebounded from terrible to just low, with pre-tax earnings of £7.2 million (still, much better than £2.8 million the year before). The company said profits were held down by £3.5 million related to their planned relocation to new offices in 2015. The Bookseller […]
School Book Clubs Help Lift Second Quarter Sales At Scholastic
Scholastic reported second quarter sales of $666 million, up 7 percent (or $43 million) from a year ago, “largely driven by strong sales in children’s books, especially in the company’s school-based distribution channels, and continued growth in classroom books and magazines.” All of the growth and more came from the children’s book publishing and distribution division, which rose $50.5 million to $403 million. Trade sales were up $3.1 million to $55.6 million, helped by the Minecraft series. School Book Club sales rose $32.2 million, or 33 percent, to $129.6 million. “Lower investment in Storia” helped children’s book publishing profits. The […]
Sales Drop 18 Percent at Faber In “Tough” Market for UK Indies
2013 was a rough year for many UK independents, leading to the sale of Quercus to Little Brown UK, the reorganization of Atlantic Books (with Allen and Unwin taking a majority stake) and the sale of some of Osprey Publishing’s lines, to cite a few examples. Similarly, Faber and Faber has now announced results for the fiscal year ending March 2014, with sales falling 18 percent to £16.26 million and earnings swinging from more than £2 million in the previous year (when Faber had “record results”) to a small loss of £5,000. And the company says “market conditions have continued […]
Wiley Gains, Even As Book Sales Fall
Wiley announced second quarter results Tuesday morning, with sales of $477 million up $28 million from a year ago, a 6 percent gain. Adjusted earnings per share grew more, up 8 percent, to $54 million, or 90 cents a share. Book sales declined across their major segments, however. In the professional development segment, combined print and ebook sales were down 9 percent in the quarter to $67 million; in the education segment, book sales were down 7 percent to $50 million; and in research, books and references declined 9 percent to $37 million. CEO Steve Smith says in the release, […]
FastPencil Weighs on Courier’s Results
Courier Corporation reported fiscal fourth quarter sales of $84 million, just above flat, with income from continuing operations of $7.2 million (up $400,000). Publishing sales were $9 million for the period, down 4 percent, with operating income of $391,000. For the full year, those publishing segment sales were $33.4 million, down $300,000, with a smaller operating loss of $187,000. CEO James Conway III says in the announcement, “After several difficult years, our publishing segment continues to improve. Our investment in ebooks is starting to generate a larger audience as well as improved profitability, and we continue to demonstrate an ability […]