When McGraw-Hill Education becomes a stand-alone business some time in 2012 it will look toward global expansion and more digital sales for growth, executives stressed in promoting the plan to divide the current McGraw-Hill Companies into two distinct operations. MHE “will be well-positioned to capitalize on the significant growth opportunities in educational services and global growth markets as well as to lead the transformation to digital education,” MHC chairman Terry McGraw said. Indeed, there seems to be little downside in MHE separating from MHC since it has little in common with other parts of the current MHC empire that grew in a series of acquisitions that had little to do with publishing.
International sales at MHE represented 17% of the company’s $2.43 billion in revenue in 2010, divided among Latin America (13%), Canada (17%), Asia-Pacific (34%), and Europe/Middle East/Africa (36%). The strongest growth areas are in China, Brazil, and India, countries in which sales are forecast to increase at double-digit rates, MHC said.
Digital sales increased 30% at MHE last year, and over 95% of its K–12 and college texts as well as 6,000 professional titles are now available for use on a range of e-reader and tablet devices. Digital represented 15% of the higher education group’s sales last year, and the company anticipates that percentage increasing to 20% this year.
In addition to internal growth, MHE will look to make strategic acquisitions and create more partnerships, MHC said. Halfway through 2011, MHE reported a 5% decline in total revenue to $840 million, with the net loss increasing to $33 million from $10 million. The school group had the steepest drop in revenue in what is a soft market, while results have been mixed in the higher education/professional/international segment.
