Digital Sales Spur Wiley

With digital sales showing solid gains in its three operating groups, digital products accounted for 39% of total revenue at John Wiley & Sons in the fiscal year ended April 30. Digital's deepest penetration was in the scientific/technical/medical/scholarly segment, where it accounted for 59% of revenue, led by online journals as well as e-books. In the professional/trade segment, digital revenue included $23 million in e-book sales, plus online advertising and content licensing sales of $21 million. The growth in digital revenue in the P/T group was enough to offset a slight decline in print sales, which fell from about $400 million in fiscal 2010 to $394 million last year. The $49 million in digital sales in the higher education unit included $13 million in digital-only sales from WileyPlus, and $13 million in e-book sales. Sales from nontraditional sources, including digital, totalled $84 million in fiscal 2011.

Overall, sales at Wiley rose 3% in the year, while net income increased 20%, to $171.9 million. Company executives noted that profitability was aided by higher margins from e-books.

Wiley Revenue, Fiscal 2011, Print and Digital ($ in millions)