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Spending on Books Dips
A Bowker PubTrack Consumer analysis of second-quarter market trends shows declines in the price paid per book, number of books purchased per buyer, and in the overall dollars spent per buyer.
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Borders Approves Shareholder Proposals
Borders Group's largest shareholder, Bennett LeBow, cemented his control over the retailer late Thursday afternoon when shareholders approved two proposals at a special shareholders meeting. The approval came a day after the company delayed the meeting for 24 hours.
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AAP July Sales Report
In what was a generally dismal month for the print trade categories, e-book sales rose 150.2%, to $40.8 million, in July at the 14 publishers that supply results to the Association of American Publishers' monthly sales report.
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Scholastic Shrugs Off Lackluster First Quarter
First quarter sales for the period ended August 31 fell 7.8% at Scholastic, to $290.9 million, and the net loss increased to $35.2 million from $23.0 million in the comparable quarter in fiscal 2010. Despite the results, the company said it remained on track to meet its earlier forecast of total sales for fiscal 2011 of between $1.9 and $2.0 billion and earnings per share from continuing operations in the $1.95 to $2.20 range.
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E-book Sales Jump 150% in July
After increasing by "only" 118% in June, e-book sales jumped 150.2% to $40.8 million at the 14 publishers that report e-book sales in July. Sales for the first seven months of the year were up 191%, to $219.5 million.
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Advisory Firm Backs Burkle
The proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholders Services recommended this morning that shareholders back the three candidates nominated for the Barnes & Noble board by Ron Burkle, B&N's largest outside shareholder involved in a proxy battle with the country's largest bookstore chain. Last week a smaller advisory firm, Glass Lewis, backed the B&N slate led by chairman Len Riggio. In backing Burkle, ISS agreed with his argument that the B&N board is too closely tied to Riggio and his family.
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Barnes & Noble Nominees Get Support
Glass Lewis & Co., an independent financial research firm that makes recommendations on how institutional investors should vote their shares, has come out in favor of the Barnes & Noble-backed board nominees in the retailer's proxy battle with Ron Burkle.
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Book Exports Dipped in First Half of 2010
Book exports slipped 0.8% in the first six months of 2010, to $911.1 million, according to estimates released from the U.S. Commerce Department. The decline was due to shipments to a number of smaller markets as exports to America's top 15 book trading partners rose 3.5%. The largest increase in exports was to Mexico, driven by a huge gain in the demand for professional books.
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Wiley Has Good Start to Fiscal 2011
Led by double-digit gains in its professional/trade and higher education divisions, total revenue at John Wiley & Sons rose 5% in the first quarter ended July 31, to $408 million and net income jumped to $44 million from $26.9 million in the comparable quarter last year. Excluding the impact of foreign exchange, sales rose 9%. The improved profitability was attributed in part to increase sales of digital products that Wiley said have higher margins than print products.
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Industry Stocks: August performance
After rising 8.4% in July, the Publishers Weekly Stock Index fell 2.8% in August as prices fell at 11 companies while increasing at just four. Still, the decline was less than the 4.3% drop posted by the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
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Barnes & Noble, Burkle Trade More Charges
The battle of letters and press releases between Barnes & Noble and Ron Burkle shows no signs of abating. Within hours following a B&N letter to shareholders yesterday that reiterated the retailer's belief that Burkle is planning to team with Aletheia Research & Management to take control of the company without paying a premium price, Burkle issued a statement calling the letter "ironic and hypocritical."
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Another Weak Quarter from Borders; Expands Non-book Offerings
Borders Group reported another disappointing quarter this morning with sales in the period ended July 31 falling 11.5%, to $526.1 million and the loss from continuing operations increasing to $51.6 million from $45.1 million in the comparable quarter in 2009. Same store sales fell 6.8%. Looking for a bright spot, Borders said sales through Borders.com increased 56.2% to $15.5 million. The company said it is expanding its non-book products to differentiate itself in the market.
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Random House Profit Doubles in First Half of 2010
Driven by strong sales in the U.S. and a 300% increase in digital sales, worldwide revenue at Random House rose 7.7% for the first half of 2010, to 791 million euros ($1.0 billion), while operating EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) doubled to 40 million euros ($51 million). In his letter to employees, Random chairman Markus Dohle attributed the gains in the U.S. to "bestseller dominance [combined] with lower physical returns." Worldwide e-book sales are expected to top $100 million in the year.
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AAP June Sales Report
At the midway point of 2010, the mass market paperback and e-book segments are taking different paths. According to the AAP's monthly sales estimates, e-book sales from the 14 companies that report results rose 204.2%, to $179.7 million, in the first half of the year, while sales at the nine reporting mass market houses fell 14.9%, to $325.6 million.
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Barnes & Noble, Burkle Draw Battle Lines
The proxy fight for control of Barnes & Noble began in earnest last week when both sides sent out materials to shareholders to solicit votes. As in any battle, the two parties slammed the qualifications of their opponents, with B&N charging that Ron Burkle’s Yucaipa Companies is trying to take control of the retailer without paying a premium for the company.
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Publishing Revenue Down at Lagardere
Lagardere reported Thursday afternoon that total revenue in its publishing group fell 3.4% in the first six months of 2010, to 975 million euros ($1.24 billion), while EBIT fell about 10% to 101 million euros. The decline in both sales and earnings was mainly due to the strong worldwide sale of the Stephenie Meyer titles throughout much of 2009. While Hachette Book Group USA has a strong fall book lineup, Lagardere warned that second half comparisons for the publishing group in general will be tough and for the U.S. will be "very tough" given the strength of Meyer sales last year. Overall, Lagardere said it expects worldwide publishing EBIT to fall more in the second half of 2010 than the 10% decline posted in the first half.
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Small Gains at Bloomsbury US
North America sales at Bloomsbury rose 2.3% in the first half of 2010, the U.K.-based publisher announced this morning, with revenue rising to 8.9 million pounds ($13.9 million). Operating income increased to 600,000 pounds from just over break even in the first six months of 2009. According to Bloomsbury, the U.S. operation has benefitted from ongoing rights sales and good re-orders for backlist titles. Though it didn't give exact figures, Bloomsbury said it expects e-book sales in the U.S. "to be a healthy seven figure sum this year."
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Barnes & Noble Looks for Shareholder Support
After Ron Burkle began looking for shareholders' votes in his fight with Barnes & Noble yesterday, it was the retailer's turn today. The company issued a revised proxy statement and sent letters to shareholders this morning that urged shareholders to vote for its slate of board nominees that, in addition to founder and chairman Len Riggio, include two new candidates, David Golden and Dr. David Wilson. The letter also asks shareholders to reject a Burkle proposal that it says will weaken B&N's poison pill provisions, making an unfriendly takeover of the company possible.
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Proxy Battle Heats Up as Burkle Begins Solicitation Campaign
The proxy battle for Barnes & Noble is heating up with Ron Burkle's Yucaipa Companies filing new proxy materials urging B&N shareholders to vote for Yucaipa's slate of board candidates and to support its proposal to amend the retailer’s poison pill provision. In asking for shareholder support Burkle laid out familiar complaints against the current management, led by his assertion that since August 2009 B&N's stock price has significantly underperformed the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Specialty Retail Index and B&N's "self-selected peer group."
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Charges, Investments Lead to Loss at Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble's results for the first quarter ended July 31 continued the sales trends of much of the second half of fiscal 2010 with rapid growth at Barnes & Noble.com and declining sales at the retail trade stores. Sales at B&N.com increased 42%, to $145 million, with comp sales ahead 53%, while trade store sales declined 2%, to $1.03 billion. Sales from the college stores, which B&N bought last September, added $225.6 million to revenues, which B&N said reflected comp store sales increase of 2.9%. As a result, total revenue increased 21% in the quarter, to $1.40 billion, but the company posted a net loss of $62.5 million compared to net earnings of $12.2 million in the first quarter of last year.
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