Sales at Scholastic fell 6 percent in their first quarter, down $17 million to $276 million, but their seasonal loss was trimmed as well, with their operating loss about $1 million lower at $45.9 million. The children’s book publishing and distribution division had sales of $54.6 million — down from $70.9 million a year ago — with the seasonal loss of $61.5 million $6.6 million higher. (The book clubs and fairs take a loss when school is not in session.) The return to normal of The Hunger Games continues to weigh on that division, and lowered the comps in international […]
Publishers
Wiley Nudges Forward, with Less Trade Baggage
Wiley reported first quarter 2014 results of $411 million, just above even with a year ago but up 3 percent on an “adjusted” basis. Net income of $32 million was up 2 percent on a currency-neutral basis, but down $1.4 million in real terms following another in a series of planned restructuring charges. In a telling shift, the company reported “52 percent of our revenue comes from digital content and services, up from 45 percent a year ago, Our transformation from print publisher to provider of digital knowledge and knowledge-enabled services continues.” As does their transition away from any significant […]
Random House Has Lower Sales, Higher Earnings
Bertelsmann reported results for the first six months of the year, including the last financial report for Random House Inc. as a standalone company, covering the period right up to the merger with Penguin. Sales were “slightly lower” than last year’s record first half, falling 32 million euros (or 3.4 percent) to 915 million euros for the period. Operating EBIT “soared” by 4 million euros (or 3.5 percent) to a mid-year record of 117 million euros. Among the major contributors were sales of “more than four million” English-language units of Dan Brown’s INFERNO in the first six weeks on sale, […]
Hachette Has Softer Second Quarter But Remains Up for the Year
Lagardere reported first-half of the year results after the close of the market in France on Thursday. Sales at Lagardere Publishing were 495 euros in the second quarter — and 917 million euros for the formally reported first half, up 3.1 percent on a like-for-like basis, and 12 million euros higher on a topline basis from a year ago. (They say negative foreign exchange movements cost 15.5 million euros.) That means they gave up some ground up in the second quarter, after a strong first quarter that was 25 million euros ahead of the prior year. Earnings rose more, with […]
Even with Big Hits, Mondadori Slides In First Half
Earlier in August, Italy’s Mondadori Group reported results for the first half of the year. “There was a slowdown in the trade books market” that pushed Mondadori’s total book sales down 7.3 percent to €134 million, with EBITDA of €10.3 million (down almost 20 percent). Among their publishing lines, however, sales rose 2.6 percent at Edizioni Mondadori (thanks to 700,000 copies in print of Dan Brown’s INFERNO), and 8.2 percent at Piemme (thanks to Khaled Hosseini’s AND THE MOUNTAINS ECHOED.) The company says it maintained its market share, still leading the trade with 26 percent of all trade revenues. (They […]
People, Etc.
Amulet has revealed details on Jeff Kinney‘s forthcoming eighth Wimpy Kid book, HARD LUCK, sporting a lime green cover for its November 5 release. Kinney says, “As a writer, there’s something wickedly satisfying about putting Greg Heffley under duress, and in the eighth book, Greg suffers a multitude of indignities. But this time around he has a secret weapon against the slings and arrows of middle school.” Meryl Streep will narrate the audio version of Colm Toibin’s THE TESTAMENT OF MARY, for September release. Some day soon, now that HarperCollins comprises a more meaningful portion of the new foxless News Corp., […]