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Borders Meets with Publishers Over Terms; Conference Call Set
Ahead of a conference call set for Friday afternoon to give vendors an update on its business plan and restructuring, Borders merchandise executives have been in New York this week negotiating with publishers to resume direct shipments to the embattled chain.
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Sales, Earnings Up at Wiley
Total revenue at John Wiley & Sons rose 5% in the third quarter ended January 31, rising to $447.9 million, while operating income increased 2%, to $69.6 million. Excluding the negative impact of foreign currency exchange, sales rose 7%.
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2010 Publisher Scorecard
A look at how three big publishers did in 2010 vs. 2009.
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Industry Stocks: February Performances
With winners outnumbering losers by an 11 to 4 count, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index rose 3.2% in February, slightly beating the Dow Jones Industrial Average's 2.7% increase.
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Digital Up, Print Down at Harlequin
Revenue at Harlequin fell 5.3% in 2010, to C$468.2 million ($482 million), while operating profit held relatively even, slipping to C$83.4 million ($85.4 million) from C$83.8 million in 2009. The decline was due mainly to currency fluctuations, parent company Torstar said.
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Penguin Earnings Rise 26% on 6% Sales Gain
Led by solid gains in its two biggest markets--the U.S. and U.K.--Penguin Group reported total revenue of 1.05 billion pounds ($1.71 billion) in 2010, a 6% sales increase with operating profits up 26% to 106 million pounds ($172 million).
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Quarto Posts Gains in Sales, Earnings
Total revenue at Quarto rose 7% in 2010, to 113.8 million euros ($155 million) and operating profit increased 17%, to 8.2 million euros. The U.K.-based publisher and packager that does business on a global basis said currency fluctuations had little impact on results this year. It also took an undisclosed provision for the Borders bankruptcy.
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Simon & Schuster Posted Earnings Gain Despite Sales Dip
Simon & Schuster ended 2010 on a positive note with sales increasing 5%, to $231.7 million, and adjusted operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) rising 32% to $20.1 million. The strong finish helped S&S to overcome a slow start, finishing the year with sales of $790.8 million, slightly down from $793.5 million in 2009. Adjusted OIBDA rose 33%, to $71.8 million and operating income increased to $60.9 million from $42.5 million.
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E-book Sales Up 164% as Other Trade Segments Fall
E-book sales jumped 164.4% in 2010, to $441.3 million, at the 14 publishers who report sales to the Association of American Publishers monthly sales program. Sales in December rose almost exactly the same amount, 164.8%, to $49.5 million. Sales in all other trade segments fell in the year with the exception of downloadable audio which had a 38.8% gain to $81.9 million.
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Macmillan Owed C$10 Million from Fenn
H.B. Fenn's filing for bankruptcy left a number of American publishers with significant sums outstanding as part of the C$21.8 million the Canadian distributor owes to unsecured creditors. When looking at American houses, Fenn owes the most amount of money to Macmillan, at nearly C$10 million, with HarperCollins also hit hard, owed roughly C$3.3 million. And Hachette, one of Fenn’s secured creditors, is owed C$2.6 million. Here are some of the other U.S. publishers owed significant sums by the Canadian company:
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With Dimmer Twilight, Sales Dip at Lagardere Publishing
Lagardere Publishing finished 2010 with a 4.8% decline in total revenue, with sales falling to 2.16 billion euros ($2.95 billion), parent company Lagardere reported Thursday. The decline was expected due to the steep drop in sales of the Twilight series which fell to 11 million copies through the Lagardere publishing subsidiaries compared to 45 million in 2009. Revenue in 2009 also benefited from strong sales in France of The Lost Symbol, particularly in the fourth quarter of that year.
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Uncertainty Reigns Following Fenn Failure
The Canadian publishing industry is still reeling from news last Thursday that the largest independent book distributor H.B. Fenn and Company has begun bankruptcy proceedings. There are many expressions of sorrow and support for CEO and founder Harold Fenn and his family, who built the business over more than 30 years. But even as publishers, booksellers and authors wonder why Fenn fell, they are now also facing the uncertainty left in the wake of the announcement.
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Industry Stocks: January Performances
Even though there were more winners than losers on the Publishers Weekly Stock Index in January by a nine to six count, the PWSI fell slightly in the month. The decline was primarily due to the big drop suffered by Amazon, whose stock price fell by more than $10 in January.
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H.B. Fenn, Canada's Largest Distributor, Goes Bankrupt
Canadian publishing was shaken yesterday by news that H.B. Fenn and Company, Canada’s largest book distributor and a stalwart in the industry for 30 years, had begun bankruptcy proceedings and appears to be shutting down, leaving its clients and authors scrambling. Fenn issued a brief statement Thursday, saying that it had filed a Notice of Intention to Make a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. That could mean a restructuring proposal to allow the company to continue operating, but in the statement CEO and founder Harold Fenn said, "My heart goes out to our over 125 employees and to the many publishers we represent, as well as the customers that have supported us over the years." And indeed, according to sources, Fenn staff was told to pack up their belongings yesterday.
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Fenn Files for Bankruptcy
H.B. Fenn and Company, Canada’s largest book distributor, today filed a Notice of Intention to Make a Proposal under the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act. The company could propose a restructuring program, but the comment from founder and CEO Harold Fenn in a brief statement issued by the company this afternoon was sombre.
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Earnings Fall at HarperCollins
Commenting on its second quarter results for the period ended December 31, News Corp. said operating income at its HarperCollins subsidiary fell. News Corp. now reports HC as part of a much larger publishing segment and no figures for HC were available. In its 10-Q filing, News reported that second quarter sales at HC also declined due to fewer new titles and "lower licensing fees resulting from a settlement received at HarperCollins in the corresponding prior year periods."
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McGraw-Hill Education Posts Big Earnings Gain on Small Sales Increase
Despite a soft fourth quarter, McGraw-Hill Education reported strong gains in earnings in 2010 on a modest sales increase. Total revenue in the year rose 1.9%, to $2.4 billion, while operating income jumped 31.7%, to $363.4 million.
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Courier Unfazed by Slow Start
Sales and earnings were off in the first quarter ended December 25 at Courier Corp., but the company said that it expected to still hit its financial targets for fiscal 2011 and even raised its earnings per share forecast. Courier attributed the shortfall primarily to timing of manufacturing orders in the religion market. Sales at REA also fell significantly due to a strong first quarter last year. Overall, sales fell 3%, to $61.2 million, and net income dropped to $1.7 million from $2.8 million.
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Flat World Knowledge Gets $15 Million in Funding
Flat World Knowledge, the largest publisher of free and open college textbooks for students worldwide, has received $15 million in another round of funding, this one led by Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI), a wholly owned subsidiary of Bertelsmann, and Bessemer Venture Partners, a global investment firm. Also joining the round are returning investors Valhalla Partners, GSA Venture Partners (formerly Greenhill SAVP), High Peaks Venture Partners, and several angel investors.
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Bowker to Collect Data for AAP and BISG
The Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group, which embarked on a joint venture in May 2010 to develop a new industry statistics model, have announced they have retained the services of Bowker as the venture's data collection provider. Industry stats veteran Kelly Gallagher, v-p, publisher services, will work closely with the BookStats Steering committee.
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