McGraw-Hill's Education division had revenue of just over $1 billion in the third quarter ended September 30, a 1% increase from the comparable period last year. Operating profits fell 2%, to $297.9 million, in part because of a $2 million increase in expenses related to its Global Transformation Project to upgrade its technology. Foreign currency exchange increased revenue by $5.2 million in the quarter, while contributing $2.5 million to operating profit.
For the first nine months of the year, the division's revenue slid 0.5% from the prior year, to $1.84 billion. Operating profit declined 5.6%, to $279.5 million.
Third-quarter results included a 1.8% increase in revenue, to $431.5 million, for the division's higher education, professional and international group, and a 0.5% rise in revenue, to $574.4 million, for the school education group. Company chairman Terry McGraw said that in light of the difficult overall education market, M-HE's performance was "certainly positive."
The federal government's No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 continues to give a lift to the company's k—12 sales, including its reading and testing products. The company also got a boost from winning 38% of the middle and high school social studies adoption in Texas.
The company cited growth in trade sales, as well as strong university and college sales, but said revenue from professional products was flat due to continued weakness in technology titles and a decline in scientific, technical and medical sales.
