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 […]
Publishers
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 […]
Hachette US Book Sales Were Down 18.5 Percent In the Third Quarter
Third quarter sales at Lagardere Publishing were €564 million, down €16 million from the same period a year ago. (That’s a numerical decline of 2.9 percent, though they company said on a like-for-like basis results were actually down 5.9 percent.) Currency exchange added €6 million. After a surprisingly positive first half, the dispute with Amazon weighed more heavily on HBG USA in the third quarter, with sales down 18.5 percent compared to a year ago. The company cited “the difficult situation with Amazon, as well as the postponement of some publications,” plus a difficult comparison to last year, when “an unusually […]
Bertelsmann Sales Are Flat In Third Quarter, As Asset Changes Weigh On Profits
Bertelsmann issued a brief third quarter trading report (in the European style), indicating that sales for the first nine months of the year rose 4.3 percent to €11.82 billion — “their highest level in seven years” — but profits have declined sharply, due in large part to recent rearrangements of their portfolio of assets. “An impairment loss on RTL Group’s TV activities in Hungary, where the parliament passed a special tax on advertising in the summer, negatively impacted the 2014 figure,” the company explained. “There were also losses from the sale of the Be Printers’ Italian printing plants and the Club businesses in […]
Houghton Reduces Sales Forecast, But Cites Strong Future Billings and Digital Adoption
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt reported third quarter earnings on Thursday morning, with sales just above flat at $551 million, and net income also just above flat at $107 million. In trade, sales of just above $46 million “increased slightly” compared to a year ago, “reflecting strong tie-in book sales following the release of The Giver by Lois Lowry” as a movie (and inclusion in Kindle Unlimited). “Strong frontlist” sales that also included Randall Munroe’s What If? “were partially offset by a higher reserve for returns.” But adjusted trade EBITDA declined 16% or $1.4 million, to $7.2 million for the period. (HMH […]