Profits Improve at Scholastic In their fiscal third quarter, Scholastic achieved operating profit of $5.8 million, up nicely from a $2.3 million loss a year ago (with a net loss of $.7 million, compared to a loss of $6 million last year), as sales rose 2 percent to $481 million. The stock rose over 4 percent in morning trading on the news. Trade publishing was a big contributor to improved profits, producing operating gains of $16.5 million on sales of $272 million. School book fairs yielded higher revenues, but continuity programs and school book clubs declined. Release Olson Down on […]

Revenues Flat at RH As Profits Rise Bertelsmann reported fiscal 2004 full-year results, and the brief divisional report for Random House shows revenues remaining basically flat in Euros, at 1.8 billion (which converts to $2.41 billion at today’s rates), in what the company calls “a sluggish book industry economy internationally.” The company’s reported profit measure now is operating EBIT, which rose to 140 million euros at the book unit, from 115 million last year. (Confusingly, this is a change from their previous method of reporting EBITA. Under that measure, last year saw profit of 147 million Euros, down from 168 […]

Up, Up and Away A quick post brought to you from Terminal 3 at Heathrow. Without meaning to be persistently negative, but simply reflecting what we hear, even my driver out to the airport has been hearing from people all day how reluctant they are about the move to ExCel. And he pegs the cab ride from Heathrow over to Anaheim-Upon-Thames as a good hour-and-a-half to two hours. London’s a great show, the move is a fact of life, and of course publishing people can excel to focusing on the negative. But it sure feels like the community needs a […]

Agency Moves (Or Not) Following the recent dissolution of agency Burnes & Clegg, Sarah Burnes will join The Gernert Company on April 1. Burnes’ clients and projects singled out in an announcement include Mary Guterson’s WE ARE ALL FINE HERE, the GOSSIP GIRL series, and Mary Kay Zuravleff’s forthcoming THE BOWL IS ALREADY BROKEN. In London, Publishing News made agency speculation their front-page story. Canada’s Westwood Creative Artists, having recently ended their sub-agenting relationship with A P Watt, is evaluating options. Bruce Westwood says, “We can work from Canada, we can set up in London, or we can buy something. […]

Now Available As noted yesterday, our new and amazingly useful print version of over 3,000 deals from 2004 is now available for sale. For a short period of time, PublishersMarketplace members can buy it at a special discount. And if you’re at the London Book Fair, as noted before, you can check out the first copies by visiting our friends at these booths: American Collective Stand BEA Frankfurt Book Fair Deal Book page Business in London In charmingly traditional (and to me endlessly amusing) fashion, attendance at the London Book Fair rose the second day now that it’s Monday, a […]

Now Available Our new and amazingly useful print version of over 3,000 deals from 2004 is now available for sale. For a short period of time, PublishersMarketplace members can buy it at a special discount. And if you’re at the London Book Fair, as noted before, you can check out the first copies by visiting our friends at these booths: American Collective Stand BEA Frankfurt Book Fair Deal Book page From London It’s rare in life that you get to experience “the good old days” as they are happening, but that was very much sense as the London Book Fair […]