A strong performance by its scientifc/technical/medical/scholarly group helped to offset softness in John Wiley’s two other operating units leading to a 5% increase in total revenue for the first quarter ended July 31, to $430.1 million. Net income rose 15%, to $50.8 million. In the quarter, Wiley benefitted from foreign exchange. Excluding currency fluctuations revenue was up slightly.
In the professional/trade group, first quarter revenue grew 0.4% or fell 2% excluding foreign exchange, to $100 million. Sales in the consumer segment fell 8%, to $24 million, due in large part to the bankruptcy of Borders, Wiley said. Sales were also down in the technology (8%), and education (6%) segments. Sales rose 6% in the business category and 4% in architecture, and were flat in the psychology category. Total e-book sales in the segment rose to $11 million from $4 million and accounted or 11% of the division’s total sales. Wiley also reported a 20% increase in advertising/web site revenue, to $2 million. Wiley reported strong growth at both Amazon and Apple and said it signed e-book agreements with Amazon Germany, ChristianBooks.com, and Blio.
In the STMS segment, revenue for the quarter was up 10% to $253 million, or 3% excluding foreign exchange. Wiley reported solid journal subscription growth, new society business, backfile sales, and a rebound in corporate sales that offset a decline in book sales.
In the global education group (formerly the higher education group) revenue fell 2% to $77 million, or 5% excluding favorable foreign exchange. Wiley attributed the results to delayed ordering patterns, prior year rental stock build-up and lower enrollments in the U.S. and abroad. Non-traditional and digital revenue, which includes WileyPLUS, e-books, digital content sold directly to institutions, binder editions, and custom publishing, was up 13% to $18 million. WileyPLUS billings were down 12% mainly due to lower college enrollments in the U.S.
By territory, sales to the Americas fell 3% to $58 million, and 3% in EMEA to $5, while rising 4% in Asia-Pacific to $14 million. By category, sales (excluding FX) had the following results: engineering and computer science revenue decreased 10%; science revenue increased 7%; business and accounting revenue was down slightly; social science revenue decreased 24%; math revenue decreased 9%; and Microsoft Official Academic Course (MOAC) revenue decreased 20%
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Wiley noted that the fall 2011 planned launch of WileyPLUS Version 5 has been delayed pending improvements in system response time and performance. The delay will affect 35 courses that were included in the planned phased launch, representing 16% of all WileyPLUS courses. Billings of WileyPLUS fell 12% to $10 million, due to lower U.S. enrollments. Other digital revenue, excluding WileyPLUS (e-books, digital content sold to institutions, etc.) grew 14% to $4 million.
Looking at the remainder of the year, Wiley reiterate its forecast of mid-single-digit revenue growth excluding foreign exchange and earnings per share in a range from $3.15 to $3.20 including the effect of foreign exchange and excluding a tax benefit. If the U.S. dollar remains near current levels over the remainder of the fiscal year, Wiley anticipate upside of up to $0.10 per share.
