In its nine-month trading update, Pearson reported that Penguin Random House performed in line with expectations in the period. Pearson said PRH's revenues were down slightly “on broadly stable sales of print and audio books and ongoing modest declines in demand for e-books.”
Sales, Pearson went on to say, were led by books from John le Carré, Ken Follett, Sue Grafton, John Grisham and Jamie Oliver.
In the update, which put overall company sales in the upper range of its previous financial guidance], it was noted that the sale of a 22% stake in PRH to Bertelsmann was completed October 5. Pearson still retains a 25% share in the trade publisher.
