FTD is a publishing company that specializes in educational material. They are based in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and were founded in 1902 to support schools run by the Maristas Brothers. The name derives from the initials of Frère Théophane Durand, a former director of the Maristas Brothers.

The company is one of many businesses run by the Marist Province of South-Central Brazil (PMBCS), which covers the states of Goiás, São Paulo, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraná and Santa Catarina, also including the Distrito Federal. Several buildings make up the structure of FTD: the main office, publishing house, printing plant, nine branches, fourteen distributors, and nineteen service houses.

FTD publishes a wide range of textbooks and learning materials, from preschool to technical training at middle school level (under FTDtec) to training courses for illiterate adults. FTD also publishes atlases, dictionaries, and works of literature, and operates the learning system FTD Sistema de Ensino.

Analysis & Key Developments

Financial

In 2014, FTD Editora was able to continue the growth trajectory that began in 2013. The net revenues in the year reached 529 million BRL, a 12.8% growth compared to 2013. EBITDA, however, was just 44.6 million BRL, a 24.4% decline from 2013.

Federal government purchases in 2014 generated 184 million BRL under the National Textbook Program (PNLD) for 2015.

International

Although FTD was largely focused on the Brazilian market in the past, the company has become more open to international partnerships and expansion. In 2014, CEO Antonio Rios announced that FTD was seeking partnerships with European publishers.

Digital

FTD has a 50-person team dedicated to new media. The publisher has produced over 4,000 digital titles, four digital platforms and approximately 100 ePub and 600 PDF titles. The company is focused on branding itself as a digital as well as traditional publisher.

Bestsellers

The Brazilian Federal Government acquired 80% of FTD’s production and was responsible for 35% of its revenues in 2014; therefore the books chosen by the government were the publisher’s top sellers. FTD sold 26.3 million copies of books to the Brazilian Ministry of Education.

Earlier Developments

Financial

After a poor performance in 2012, when FTD Editora reported negative growth (404 million BRL against 424 million BRL in 2011), and profits nearly halved (36 million BRL, down from 69 million BRL in 2011) for the first time in years, the company was back on track in 2013. Revenues grew to 469 million BRL and EBITDA reached 59 million BRL in 2013.

Even though 80% of FTD’s production is sold to the government, 55% of the company’s revenues come from the private market due to the huge discounts the government receives.

Digital

FTD has been investing and developing digital products though the division FTD Digital. The company plans to produce extra study materials, online tests, and class planning apps along with e-books and digitally enhanced textbooks. FTD also operates its own digital store. Rios declared, “In FTD we don’t speak about book production anymore; we speak about content production. This content can be produced and distributed in several ways.”

In 2013, FTD sold 13.7 million BRL in digital products to the government under the 2014 PNLD.

Bestsellers

In 2013, FTD sold 30.3 million copies of books to the federal government for 188.8 million BRL. This represented a growth of 16% in the number of copies sold, even though the government had reduced its purchases.

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