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Big Houses Stay In the Black
Half way through 2011, at least four of the major trade publishers continue to find ways to profitably publish despite the challenges posed by the digital transition and the collapse of Borders.
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Market Watch - Industry Stocks: August Performances
The Publishers Weekly Stock Index got caught in Wall Street's wild August with all but one of the companies on the PWSI seeing their share prices fall in the month. The lone winner was McGraw-Hill, whose stock price benefited from the belief that pressure from shareholders to split up the publisher will yield a more profitable company.
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Barnes & Noble: Cashing In
With sales of digital content and its Nook line of reading devices and accessories surging and its print business showing signs of stabilization, Barnes & Noble reported its best quarterly report in some time last week, as total revenue in the first period rose 1.6%, to $1.42 billion, and its net loss was trimmed to $56.6 million, from $62.5 million.
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Sales, Earnings Fall at Lagardere Publishing
Comparisons with last year’s Stephenie Meyer sales juggernaut continued to impact results for Lagardere Publishing in general and Hachette Book Group in particular. For the first six months of 2011, sales for Lagardere Publishing fell 7.7%, to 900 million euros, and EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) dropped 29.7% to 71 million euros. In addition to strong sales of Meyer in last year’s six month period, currency fluctuations hurt sales; excluding the impact of exchange rates, revenue was down 6.0%.
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Profits Surge at Random House
The digital transition is proving to be a profitable one for Random House.
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Quarto Results Rise; Buys Frances Lincoln Ltd.
The U.K-based Quarto Group reported gains in sales and earnings for the first six months of 2011 and also announced that it has acquired the U.K. publisher Frances Lincoln Ltd.
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HarperCollins Sales Fell in Fiscal 2011
Sales at HarperCollins fell in the fiscal year ended June. Parent company News Corp. said in its 10-k filing that HC had “lower book sales due to fewer new releases and lower licensing fees resulting from a settlement received at HarperCollins in fiscal 2010.”
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Tracking the Transition: Bookstats
Last Tuesday's release by the Association of American Publishers and Book Industry Study Group of BookStats provides the most comprehensive information yet to gauge how technology is changing the sales patterns and trends of the book publishing industry.
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The Top Pay Grade
Executives in different parts of the publishing business did fairly well in 2010, according to PW's annual look at salaries.
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HarperCollins Year-End Results In
HarperCollins didn’t merit a word in parent company News Corp.’s announcement concerning year end results with the $33 billion company focused on explaining that the hacking scandal has not had an impact on its operations.
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Industry Sales Rose 3.1% in 2010; Trade E-book Sales the Big Winner
Total book publishing revenue rose 3.1% in 2010, to $27.9 billion, and posted two-year growth of 5.6%, according to figures released Tuesday by BookStats.
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Industry Stocks: July Performances
Despite losers outnumbering winners by eight to six, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 3.5% in July, easily beating the Dow Jones Industrial Average, which fell 2.2% in the month.
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Scholastic Settles Down In Fiscal 2011
After selling or closing a number of businesses in the previous three years, fiscal 2011, ended May 31, was relatively quiet for Scholastic with no significant changes to its portfolio. The biggest deal in the year was the $24.3 million the company paid to acquire the land under its New York City headquarters, according to the publisher's recently released 10-k filing (it also paid $8.2 million to buy Math Solutions). The just concluded fiscal year also saw Scholastic post its second consecutive year of net income after reporting net losses in fiscal 2009 and 2008.
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Earnings Up, Sales Slip at Simon & Schuster
Adjusted operating profit at Simon & Schuster rose 13% in the second quarter ended June 30, to $17 million, despite a 3% decline in sales, which fell to $183 million.
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Earnings Up at Educational Development Corp.
Educational Development Corp. reported that earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 ended May 31 rose to $300,200 from $188,200 in the comparable period in fiscal 2011.
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Greenleaf Book Group Gets New Investor
Austin-based Greenleaf Book Group has received a new investment from the private equity firm Noson Lawen Partners.
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Second-Quarter Scorecard (in millions)
Retail print book sales fell C$10.8 million in the quarter, offsetting a C$7.3 million increase in e-book sales. In addition to lower sales, profits were hurt by higher returns, due in part to the bankruptcy of Borders. E-book sales accounted for 15% of revenue in the quarter, up from 7% in last year's second period. Harlequin expects profit to improve in the second half as return rates fall.
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Second Quarter Results Down at McGraw-Hill Education
Sales and earnings both fell at McGraw-Hill Education in the second period ended June 30 with revenue down 5%, to $536.6 million, and operating profits off 18.3%, to $42.2 million.
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Amazon Sales Soar, But Earnings Fall
Led by sales in its electronics and general merchandise segment (home to Kindle), total revenue at Amazon jumped 51% in the second quarter ended June 30, to $9.91 billion, though increased investments lowered net income to $191 million from $207 million in last year’s second quarter.
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Hurt by Borders, Courier Has Weak Third Quarter
Borders's bankruptcy and soft demand for el-hi textbooks combined to drop revenue by 5% at Courier Corp. in the third quarter ended June 25, to $61.9 million.
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