HC Earnings Drop

Second-quarter operating income fell 30% at HarperCollins, to $54 million, while revenue rose $3 million to $393 million. The earnings decline was attributed to a significant writedown associated with the AMS bankruptcy plus a dramatic drop in Narnia sales, which hurt both revenue and profits. The adult general books group had a strong quarter, led by several frontlist titles plus solid backlist sales.

For the first half of fiscal 2007, total revenue was down 2.5%, to $761 million, and operating profit was down nearly 26%, to $109 million.

Vista, Ingenta Merge

Vista International, a specialist in back-office software for publishers, and Ingenta, focused on online publishing technology, are merging to create Publishing Technology PLC. Vista CEO George Lossius, who will take over as CEO of PT, said the merger combines Vista's Author2Reader systems, software that can run a wide range of print publishing functions, with Ingenta's expertise in online and electronic publishing. The company will have about 180 employees in North America and Europe.

Harcourt Cuts Five

As part of a reorganization at Harcourt, five positions have been eliminated, including that of Liz Van Doren, editorial director of the children's division. The other eliminated positions were in the company's San Diego, Calif., office. Children's editorial will be integrated under the direction of Allyn Johnston, editor-in-chief, who will continue to report to children's publisher Lori Benton.

New Tolkien Cover Unveiled

Now that illustrator Alan Lee has completed the illustrations for J.R.R. Tolkien's The Children of Hurin, publisher Houghton Mifflin has released a picture of Lee's cover image. Tolkien's son, Christopher, edited Hurin from his father's drafts, and the book will have a worldwide release April 17. HM has set a 250,000-copy printing in the U.S.

Wiley Completes Blackwell Buy

John Wiley has completed its £572-million ($1.08 billion) acquisition of Blackwell Publishing and has named Eric Swanson, its senior v-p for STM Publishing, to lead the merged business. The Blackwell purchase adds about £210 million to Wiley's STM business.

TWBG Adds $437 Million To Lagardere

Sales from the former Time Warner Book Group, now known as Hachette Book Group USA, totaled 336 million euros ($437 million) in the last nine months of 2006, according to parent company Lagardere. The French company acquired TWBG as of April 1. Total book revenue for Lagardere in 2006 rose 20.1%, to 1.98 billion euros, fueled mainly by the TWBG purchase. Excluding TWBG, book revenue rose 1.8%.

LoC Goes Digital

The Library of Congress has received a $2-million grant to digitize the works it houses. The money, donated by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, emphasizes "at-risk" titles. It also allows for the Library to invest in technology in order to implement a better digital reading experience. The project is called "Digitizing American Imprints at the Library of Congress."

Correction

Due to confusion regarding ISBN numbers, the feature "At These Prices It's Hit or Miss" (January 29) misstated the number of copies sold of the memoir Two Lives. The title sold 14,000 in hardcover and 6,000 in paperback, according to Nielsen BookScan.