Following its October purchase of the publishing-software and services provider Atypon, John Wiley has restructured the way in which it reports its financial results. The company has created three categories: research (50% of revenue in the first half of fiscal 2017); publishing (37% of year-to-date revenue); and solutions, (13% of revenue).
The publishing segment includes books and related content, course workflow, and test preparation. Revenue in the second quarter ended October, 31, 2016 fell 7% from the comparable period a year ago, falling to $163.3 million.
Wiley attributed the drop to a 9% decline in the sale of books and reference materials, with the sales of STM and professional books down the most, 12%. Education book revenue fell 5% compared to a year ago. Digital revenue rose 7% in the quarter and sales increased 11% for online test preparation, 8% for course workflow, and 20% in the licensing and other sector.
For the first six months of fiscal 2017 publishing revenue was down 11%.
For the entire company, revenue fell 2% in the quarter, to $425.6 million; excluding the negative impact of foreign exchange, revenue would have risen 2%. Wiley had a net loss in the quarter of $11.4 million compared to earnings of $2.3 million in last year’s second quarter. Earnings in both years reflect one-time charges.
