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 […]
Publishers
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 […]
Digital Revenues Grow But eBook Sales Remain Flat in Wiley Q1
John Wiley reported fiscal first quarter results, with sales of $411 million down 2 percent compared to last year and adjusted operating income dropping 23 percent to 52 cents a share. The company also took a $4.8 million restructuring charge for various discontinued operations and layoffs as part of the ongoing transition and transformation to digital. (That charge was acknowledged as on the way last quarter.) Wiley also blamed “lower revenue and higher royalty and technology costs” for the revenue declines in the quarter. In the professional/trade group, overall sales of $102 million were up 4 percent, thanks to $6 […]
50 Shades Drives “Record Operating Profits” At Random House
As expected, sales of the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy–selling more than 30 million units in the reported period in English–powered Random House to “record operating profits” for the first six months of the year and made the book divison a standout performer for Bertelsmann as well. Random House’s sales for the reported period grew 160 million euros, or 20 percent, to €947 million for the period, and operating EBIT increased to €113 million, up 64 percent from €69 million a year ago. The company notes that “favorable currency exchange rates also contributed to its positive performance.” (The weakened euro […]
Hachette First Half Sales Flat As All Major Territories Decline
What you can say about Lagardere Publishing’s reported sales for the first half of the year is, it could have been worse. Even with “a substantial market contraction in all countries in which the division operates”–from a 2.9 percent decline in French results to a 4 percent drop in US sales and a 7.6 percent decline in the UK–totals sales of 905 million euros were actually up, by a slim 0.5 percent on a reported basis, compared to 900 million euros a year ago. (Apparently “a complex accounting adjustment linked to reserves for returns in education” helped balance out those […]
Quarto Exceeds “Expectations” In First Part of “A Difficult Year”
The Quarto Group reported interim results for the first half of the year as “performance exceeded expectations,” according to chairman and ceo Laurence Orbach, “a good achievement given the challenging economic environment globally.” But looking forward they have a “cloudy outlook” and Orbach says “we know that this is already a difficult year and, in the short term, is likely to remain that way.” Sales rose only 1 percent, to $73.2 million (reflecting underlying softness, given the acquisition of Frances Lincoln last August), with adjusted EBITDA of $13.8 million also up 1 percent and operating profit of $2.9 million, up […]