The addition of Thomas Nelson was the cited as the primary reason for a 15% increase in revenue in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2013 at HarperCollins, parent company News Corp said in its 10-K filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. Revenue was $1.37 billion, up from $1.19 billion. EBITDA jumped 65% over fiscal 2012, to $142 million, due to the inclusion of $27 million in earnings from Nelson and lower litigation settlement costs of approximately $25 million related to the e-books antitrust action that settled in fiscal 2012.
Offsetting those improvements in EBITDA was $13 million in charges related to HC’s Australian and Canadian operations and the decision to exit the third party distribution business in the U.S. The remaining increase in EBITDA, News said, was primarily due to synergies in merging Nelson and Zondervan, plus the impact of cost containment initiatives and lower manufacturing costs reflecting the continued shift to digital book sales.
Digital sales accounted for 19% of global HC sales in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013 compared to 16% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012.
