Harlequin’s parent company Torstar reported third quarter results Wednesday. The book publishing unit had sales of $107.8 million (CA), down by $7.9 million (including $1.9 million in foreign exchange impact.) EBITDA was down $5 million in the quarter at $19.8 million, which Torstar attributed to “revenue declines in most markets and increased costs in the North American digital business.” Harlequin also incurred a $500,000 restructuring charge so far in 2012 and has laid off 8 people. As in the past, the sales drop was attributed to declines in print revenues that couldn’t be offset by digital gains, though “the shift […]
Publishers
Penguin Sales Are Down Slightly for The Year
Separate from news of the planned joint venture with Bertelsmann, Pearson issued a brief update on their third quarter results on Monday morning. Companywide sales rose 5 percent in the first nine months of the year (they were up 7 percent at the halfway mark), and operating profit was down 5 percent, “reflecting the sale of FTSE in 2011, acquisition integration costs and continued weakness in UK professional training.” At Penguin, sales are down 1 percent on a currency-neutral basis, and 2 percent on an underlying basis (taking out both currency changes and portfolio changes). That’s a modest improvement from the […]
Profit Declines at Bloomsbury, As Digital Comprises 15% of Adult Division Sales
Bloomsbury reported results for the six months ending August 31, with continuing pre-tax profits falling 40 percent to £0.9 million, even as sales rose 2 percent to £43.5 million. With recent acquisitions the academic and professional division now comprises 28 percent of company sales, though “academic sales peak at the beginning of the academic year, in September and October.” Sales at the adult division were flat (and down 5 percent before acquisitions), while children’s and educational sales fell 23 percent and operating profit in that segment disappeared, blamed on the comparison to last year’s Harry Potter sales tying in to […]
Perseus Celebrates Successful Year
Perseus Books Group ceo David Steinberger wrote to the company’s 675 employees today to report on their most recent fiscal year (which ended June 30). He writes: “It was an extraordinary year, not just for the seemingly countless award winners and bestsellers we published and distributed and not just for beating our budget goals and delivering strong financial results, but also for the investments we continue to make in our future and the progress we are making in transforming The Perseus Books Group into a new kind of publishing and services company well positioned to thrive in the emerging digital […]
Quercus Sees Larger Than Expected Larsson Decline, As Digital Grows
The UK’s Quercus reported results for the first six months of 2012, with “a predicted decline in the overall contribution from the Larsson franchise” registering “in a contribution…that fell short of our expectations” and is expected to continue. Sales of £9.24 million were down £2.7 million from a year ago, with £2 million of that gap attributed to lower Larsson receipts. (By our reckoning that means “underlying” non-Larsson sales declined about 7 percent.) Pre-tax profit suffered more, at £.6 million, compared to £3.4 million a year ago. Management reiterates that “Over the past few years we have been reinvesting our […]
Scholastic’s First Quarter Revenues Drop As Hunger Games Sales Level Off
Scholastic reported results for their fiscal 2013 first quarter, ending August 31, with both sales and earnings declining in what the company acknowledges is always the slowest part of the year–and one in which they typically record a loss. Sales dropped 7.7 percent to $293.6 million, and their seasonal operating loss was $47.5 million (or $1.02 a share), markedly worse than the $33.2 million loss from a year ago. Revenue in the children’s book publishing and distribution division also declined 8 percent for the quarter, to $71.1 million, reflecting “lower sales of Harry Potter relative to a year ago when […]