Bertelsmann’s Quarter Bertelsmann issued their traditionally scant thrid quarter trading update, reporting a 2.4 increase in sales for the period to 4.4 billion euros. They did not actually break out net income for the past three months, but if you compare the nine-month total of 362 million euros to the 339 million euros reported in September, you see it was a mere 23 million euros. Overall the company attributes the nine-month decline in earnings compared to last year to a variety of taxes and special items. CFO Thomas Rabe indicated he still expects pre-tax profit to rise by 10 percent […]

Perseus Refines Distribution Offerings Following their purchase of distributor Consortium in August, the Perseus Books Group has moved quickly to realign its distribution services companywide. Like the founders of the Perseus-owned CDS, Consortium CEO Don Linn “has made the decision to leave the company… to pursue other interests” as of January 1, according to an announcement issued yesterday afternoon. Consortium’s warehousing, customer service and finance will be transferred to Perseus’s Jackson, TN warehouse as of March 1, though their sales and marketing office will remain in St. Paul. Approximately 30 positions are to be eliminated at Consortium as a result […]

Informa Ends Talks with Springer Informa announced late Friday that it had rejected the final takeover offer from Springer Science and Business Media of about $5.2 billion, saying it “significantly undervalues Informa and its future prospects” — even though the bid was almost 20 percent higher than Informa’s current share price. Bloomberg Favored Littell Wins Goncourt As expected, Jonathan Littell won France’s Prix Goncourt (by a 7 to 3 vote) — “the jury then retreated inside, as it does each year, to consume a seven-course meal.” The prize comes with a ten-euro cash award. Bloomberg Oprah Still Loves YOU As […]

Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Debut O. Henry Prize winner Mary Swan’s BOYS IN THE TREES, the story […]

Earnings Reports: Indigo Slides, and Audible Looks to Stronger 07 Indigo’s strong rebound has stumbled, hurt by comparisons to last year’s Potter-power period. The dominant Canadian retailer reported sales of $182 million (CA), with same-store sales down 1.2 percent in superstores and 3 percent in their smaller stores, as online revenue fell almost 10 percent, to $17.5 million. They also had a net loss of $1 million, compared to a net gain of over $1 million a year ago. Meanwhile, Audible continues to grow with the expansion of the digital audio market, though not as quickly as the company had […]

Earnings Reports: Sales Up, Profits Down at S&S, as Harlequin Toughs Out Another Quarter Similar to their report from last quarter, sales at Simon & Schuster rose by 2 percent (“outstanding,” as the British would say) to $197.4 million, helped again by “higher distribution fees.” But operating income fell by 13 percent, to $20.3 million, blamed on “an increase of $6 million to the allowance for doubtful accounts.” CEO Les Moonves said he plans to recommend a stock buyback of between $1 billion and $1.5 billion to the board. CBS release Harlequin continues to struggle, and the company offers its […]