Declines in John Wiley’s publishing segment offset increases in its research and solutions categories in the fiscal year ended April 30. As a result, total revenue was flat, compared to the same period last year, at $1.72 billion.
Excluding the negative ($43 million) impact of foreign exchange, revenue at Wiley would have increased 2%. (The company generates about half of its revenues from international markets.) Net income in the year fell 28.3%, to $113.6 million.
Within the publishing division--which includes books, course workflow, and online test preparation--sales of books dropped 11%, compared to fiscal 2016. Revenue from education books (mostly higher education texts) fell 13%, and sales from STM and professional books declined 9%.
Elsewhere within the publishing division, Wiley reported gains of 27% in its online test prep business, 7% in its course workflow business and 3% in the licensing, distribution, advertising and other segment.Overall, revenue in the publishing division was $633.4 million in fiscal 2017, down from $695.7 million a year ago, a decline of 9%.
In research, which is Wiley’s largest operating segment, revenue in the year rose 3%, to $853 million. Meanwhile, revenue in the solutions division increased 13%, to $231 million.
During the year, Wiley continued to its transition away from print by adding more digital content and services, which accounted for 68% of all revenue, up from 63% in fiscal 2016.
Looking ahead to fiscal 2018, the company said it expects sales in its publishing group to fall by high single digits due to "the further erosion of print book markets." It anticipated low-single digit revenue growth in research, and low double-digit revenue growth in solutions.
Wiley said it will continue to further streamline its operations this year, and will take a $25 million charge in the first quarter related to those activities.
