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Sterling Off the Block as B&N Weighs Future of Nook Biz
After receiving offers that were only one-quarter of the price Barnes & Noble paid for Sterling, Barnes & Noble has suspended the sale process as it prepares to make a final determination on whether or not to spin off its Nook business.
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Sales, Earnings Dip at Harlequin
Weakness in print sales in its Overseas markets led to a slight decline in revenue and earnings at Harlequin in 2011, parent company Torstar reported this morning. Revenue fell 1.9%, to C$459.4 million, and operating earnings were down 2.0%, to C$82.4 million.
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AAP Estimates: E-book Sales Rose 117% in 2011 as Print Fell
Despite slowing growth rates in the final quarter of 2011, e-book sales rose 117% for the year, generating revenue of $969.9 million at the companies that report sales to the Association of American Publishers. Sales in all trade print segments fell in the year, however.
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More Mixed Messages From B&N
In a conference call with analysts, Lynch said the retail stores are an “excellent business,” and Mitch Klipper, CEO of B&N’s retail group, said the company has been successful in getting lower rents when leases come up for renewal. In the next two to three years, two-thirds of B&N’s leases expire, Lynch noted, giving B&N the opportunity to further reduce rents.
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Sales, Earnings Up at Quarto
With sales in both its co-edition and publishing divisions showing gains, revenue at Quarto Group rose 5.5% in 2011 to $186.1 million. Adjusted pretax profits rose to $12.1 million from $11.5 million.
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Higher E-book Sales Boost Profits at Simon & Schuster
Total sales at Simon & Schuster slipped 1% in 2011, to $787 million, but adjusted operating income jumped 31% to $85 million.
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Investor Takes 5.4% Stake in B&N
The Austin, Tex.-based hedge fund Dimensional Fund Advisors has acculumated a 5.45% stake in Barnes & Noble.
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Bertelsmann Cites 'Rapidly Growing' E-book Sales
Bertelsmann said sales rose slightly in the year, to €15.3 billion (previous year: €15.1 billion), but operating EBIT fell to €1.7 billion from €1.8 billion. The company reported“rapidly growing” e-book sales at Random House.
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HarperCollins Appears to Have Mixed Quarter
HarperCollins UK and Zondervan had a good second quarter ended December 31, but Harper US and the rest of the international market faced difficult comparisons.
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Disney Licensing, Publishing Up
Licensing and publishing revenue in Walt Disney Corp.’s first quarter ended December 31 rose 2% to $527 million.
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Sales Fall at Lagardere Publishing
Lagardere reported this morning that total revenue in its publishing segment fell 5.9%, to €2.04 billion, or 4.4% excluding foreign exchange in 2011.
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Market Watch: Industry Stocks: January Performances
Led by a 12.3% increase in the stock price of Amazon, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 4.6% in January, beating the 3.4% gain posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Amazon, however, gave back a good part of the increase on February 1, the day after the company reported fourth-quarter revenue that fell short of expectations and issued a lackluster forecast for the first quarter.
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AAP November Sales Report
The children’s/YA hardcover segment stole the spotlight from e-books in November with sales jumping 38.0% due largely to the strong showing of Inheritance, which sold more than 400,000 hardcover copies in its first week on sale in November.
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Tough Week for Amazon
Despite posting a 35% sales increase for the fourth quarter and earnings that were better than expected (if still down compared to a year ago), last week was a tough one for Amazon. Analysts and investors were disappointed in the quarterly report, and the stock price for the nation’s largest online retailer fell almost 8% the day after the earnings report was released on Tuesday, though it bounced back a bit on Thursday. Analysts have long worried that Amazon was investing too heavily in its business, but that hasn’t stopped Amazon from keeping up those investments or its stock price rising (it has a 52-week high of $246.71). The most recent report, though, renewed concerns among some analysts that Amazon was not getting a high enough return on its investments.
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Arizona Wants $53 Million in Back Taxes from Amazon
In its just filed 10-K report, Amazon said that Arizona is seeking $53 million in uncollected sales tax for the period from March 1, 2006 through December 31, 2010.
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Children's, University Press, Audiobooks Rise in AAP Monthly Sales Report
November 2011 sales of children's and YA hardcover titles rose 27% over the same period in 2010 and audiobook downloads rose 25.9% over the same period. However, November over November e-book sales, while up 65.9%, dropped below the monthly triple digit increases the category has shown.
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Books Up, Earnings Down at Amazon
Amazon reported big gains in revenue for both the fourth quarter and the full year but, as it had predicted, earnings in both periods fell. In addition, North America media segment, home to books and e-books, sales rose only 8% in the quarter, much slower than the 16% increase posted for the year.
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Weak School Year Drops Results at McGraw-Hill Education
Hurt by a 14% decline in revenue in its school group, total revenue at McGraw-Hill Education fell 6% in 2011, to $2.29 billion. Operating income fell 12%, to $320 million. During the year, MHE took a $34 million restructuring charge for severance related to a workforce reduction of about 540 positions.
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Weak Publishing Results Hurt Courier
Sales rose 3% at Courier Corp. in the first quarter ended December 24, but problems in its publishing division led to a slight decline in net income.
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Sourcebooks Has Record Year, Led by E-book Sales
Sourcebooks had the best year in its history in 2011, founder Dominique Raccah reported on her blog post with total revenue up 19%. Growth was driven by sales of e-books plus sales to gift stores and mass merchants. While print book sales rose slightly, e-book growth skyrocketed 795%.
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