Second quarter revenue fell 6.0% at Simon & Schuster compared to the second period of 2015, but operating income rose 4.0%, parent company CBS reported. Sales fell to $187 million from $199 million in last year’s second quarter, while earnings rose $1 million, to $26 million. It was the second consecutive period in which S&S managed to post a small profit increase despite no increase in revenue.
The higher earnings were attributed to lower production, selling, and inventory costs. Elaborating on the costs controls, S&S CEO Carloyn Reidy said the publisher has worked hard to make its supply chain more efficient, observing the print runs are matched closer to projected sales and returns are down.
On the revenue side, Reidy said sales of digital audio continued to post double-digit gains in the most recent quarter, but that those gains were offset by declines in both print and e-book sales. For the second quarter of 2016, digital sales accounted for 23.% of total revenue, down from 24.2% in the second quarter of 2015. "E-book sales continued to trend down," Reidy said.
Overall, Reidy said the market was solid, even as sales have tended to spike and then fall back. "it's been hard to sustain momentum," she said. Sales were down in both S&S's adult and children's groups, but Reidy said one area of strength has been adult nonfiction, citing strong sales for Grit, Shoe Dog and Gene.
The publisher's results were released Thursday afternoon, just as Amazon announced a 31% jump in revenue. Reidy said more and more of S&S's sales, both of print and digital books,are moving online.
For the first half of 2016, S&S revenue fell 3.6%, to $332 million, compared to the first six months of 2015, and operating income rose 5.4%, to $39 million.
S&S has some of the biggest books set for release in the second half of 2016, including Amy Schumer’s The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo (due in August), Born to Run by Bruce Springsteen (September) and A Life in Parts by Bryan Cranston (October). "Our publishing is really weighted to the second half of the year," Reidy said.
This story has been updated to include remarks from Carolyn Reidy.
