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 benefitted from strong sales in France of The Lost Symbol, particularly in the fourth quarter of that year.
The decline in worldwide sales slowed in the fourth quarter compared to the rest of 2010, down 4.1%, although sales in its American division, Hachette Book Group, fell 14%. Strong sales in the U.S. of Earth: The Book, Life by Keith Richards, Chelsea Bang Bang and three Nicholas Sparks titles partially offset declines in Twilight sales.
For the full year, HBG posted a 138% increase in e-book sales and e-books accounted for 8% of HBG’s total revenue. E-book sales gained some traction in the U.K., accounting for 1% of sales last year, but remained marginal in France. Back in the U.S., HBG had 155 New York Times bestsellers in 2010, up from 131 in 2009.
