The stock of Barnes & Noble Education was hit hard after their fourth quarter earnings report on Wednesday morning, falling over 20 percent to a new all-time low at the end of trading on Thursday, below $8 a share — and still falling further in the first hour on Friday. (The stock was spun-off at around $13.50 a share two years ago, in August 2015.) The unit’s market capitalization has fallen almost in half, starting at just under $650 million when it was split from Barnes & Noble, Inc. and now at under $330 million. (BN’s market cap has rebounded […]
International News
Quarto Falls on Profit Warning, and China Literature Heads for IPO
Ahead of reporting results for the first half of 2017, Quarto Group warned that its earnings guidance “for 2017 and beyond has been set too high.” That’s due to both “a lower-than expected trading performance in the year to date” during “the ongoing soft retail environment” as well as an accounting adjustment from the previous year. With their publishing program weighted towards the fall, they still expect “to perform significantly better in the second half.” The wording sounds mild, but the stock market reacted strongly: Quarto’s have fallen over 25 percent since the announcement. Additionally, Brian Porritt has been appointed interim […]
PRH Closes Ediciones B Purchase, Ingram Buys NBN’s UK Distribution
Penguin Random House formally completed their acquisition of Ediciones B’s imprints from Grupo Zeta (reportedly for 40 million euros), and those lines become part of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial. (An investment group indicates that Ediciones B had sales of approximately 13 million euros in 2015.) Director-general of Ediciones B, B. Román de Vicente will report to CEO of PRH Grupo Editorial Núria Cabutí Brull. Juan Díaz will be publishing manager of Ediciones B, and will oversee the work of the team headed by literary director Berta Noy. Pilar Reyes, who is responsible for Alfaguara, Taurus and Debate, will take on […]
Ed Victor Agency Is Sold to Curtis Brown UK
Curtis Brown UK has acquired Ed Victor Ltd from his widow Carol Victor and the other shareholders. Carol Victor says in the announcement, “We are very pleased that Curtis Brown will assume the care of our distinguished clients and continue the work of servicing their back lists and looking after their future interests. I discussed this eventuality with Ed and it was his advice to turn to Curtis Brown, the oldest and most highly respected of agencies and the one he had chosen for himself, when he wrote his own book.” Curtis Brown UK joint ceo Jonny Geller says: “I […]
People, Etc.
Former publishing executive Dick McCullough, 67, died last week following a battle with brain tumors. Mike Shatzkin has posted a testimonial to “the best leader I ever met in the corporate world.” He notes: “Dick was not an unconventional person, but he loved eccentricity in other people. He wasn’t a brilliant thinker, but he gravitated to people who were. He learned from everybody. He respected everybody. He was relentlessly fair….He inspired us all to be better people. He inspired us all to have a generous spirit. He valued hard work, but he also valued a good time. I have never […]
Bookselling: New Stores, Financial and Legal Updates
After closing last fall, Guide to Kulchur will reopen in Cleveland, OH this month as a bookstore with a “black box space” next door. Founder RA Washington told Cleveland Scene that, with the support of local foundation, he hopes to make the new enterprise a non-profit organization. In addition to bookselling, his goals for the non-profit include “providing books to prisoners; operating GTK Press, a small press for insurgent literature and marginalized voices; and curating speakers and performers in the black box space.” Neighborhood Reads is holding a grand opening in downtown Washington, MS today. And earlier this month, Brick & Mortar […]