Planeta is the leading Spanish-language publishing group in Spain and Latin America, with further strong holdings in Portugal and in France, where it owns Editis, the second largest publishing company in France. Planeta is further expanding abroad on international cooperation projects. In 2016 it opened a new publishing house in Italy, called DeAPlaneta Libri, a joint venture between De Agostini Editore and Grupo Planeta, two traditional partners since 1984 in Spain.
Grupo Planeta has a presence in 25 countries and includes over 100 imprints and a catalog of 15,000 authors.
Aside from book publishing, the group has shares in the newspaper La Razón, and Grupo AtresMedia, which includes two of three main television channels in Spain Antena 3 and La Sexta; and the second largest radio station, Onda Cero. Grupo Planeta has also an independent distributor focused on fictional films for cinema and TV, called DeA Planeta, and another for children’s content called Planeta Junior.
Planeta’s Learning and University division reaches more than 100,000 students in undergraduate and MBA programs in Barcelona, Madrid, Paris and Morroco.
The owner family’s Fundación José Manuel Lara is a main sponsor of cultural events.
Analysis & Key Developments
Financial
The revenues of Grupo Planeta in 2017, including Publishing, Media, Learning and universities divisions and different sales channels (bookstores, reading clubs and online channels), reached 2.75 billion EUR, due to three main factors. First, the consolidation of the publishing division with the fast-growing market in Spain compared to the overall market. The same trend has been seen in Italy, with the joint venture called DeaPlaneta Libri. Income decreased in France at Editis, compared to the previous year, 2017, when an educational reform triggered a surge in educational book buying.
Second, Planeta’s media division improved its results due to the overall improving economic climate in the country and the success of Grupo Atresmedia, the market leader in television and radio in Spain. The global perimeter has been affected as well by the failure of a content production company in Spain, where Planeta had a minority stake.
Third, 2017 has seen a new jump in the consolidation of the strong expansion of the Grupo Planeta Learning and University division, which has expanded its activity in Morocco by opening a new university online focusing on tourism. The previous year had seen the acquisition in the French market of ESLSCA (École Supérieure Libre des Sciences Commerciales Appliquées), a business school based in Paris with over 65 years of excellence in management education. Paris ESLSCA Business School, l’Ecole de Guerre Economique, IFAM and ISAM are all under the umbrella of Groupe ESLSCA. The main activities of this division are concentrated in Barcelona and Madrid, where they develop an ambitious professional training plan in partnership with the Spanish Chamber of Commerce and a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises in different industries.
Internal Organization
The board of directors of Grupo Planeta agreed to transfer corporate headquarters from Barcelona to Madrid in October 2017 in the light of the legal uncertainty created by the political situation in Catalonia, and to protect the interests of its shareholders, employees and business projects. The change of the registered address of corporate headquarters did not involve the movement of any employees. Grupo Planeta has operating centers in several cities in Spain and its publishing business remains concentrated in Barcelona.
International
New projects have been started in Italy (DeaPlaneta Libri) and in Brazil.
Digital
In 2017 the company started the project Audiolibros, despite audio books witnessing only a cautious uptake so far in Spain and France.
Bestsellers
Planeta's main bestsellers during 2017 included Patria by Fernando Aramburu, El fuego invisible by Javier Sierra, Origen by Dan Brown and Las hijas del capitán by María Dueñas.
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