Publishing sales at Thomas Nelson rose 2.9% in the fiscal year ended March 31, 1999, to $168.3 million, according to the company's annual report. Gift sales rose 4.2% to $93.3 million. Earlier this year, Nelson reported total sales of $261.6 million and net income of $8.9 million (News, May 31).
The company attributed the modest increase in publishing revenues to improved sales of frontlist titles; backlist sales, which accounted for 48% of total revenues in fiscal 1998, represented 42% of sales last year. According to Nelson, revenues were hurt by lower than expected sales tied to the Prince of Egypt movie as well as to the delay of two major publishing projects that are not being released until fiscal 2000.
Publishing sales were also negatively affected by a lack of revenue from the previous year's distribution clients. Nelson reported that it has no plans to enter into any "material" distribution agreements in the near future. International sales rose slightly in the year to $22.9 million, compared to $20.1 million in fiscal 1998.
Within the publishing group, the company's fastest growing segments in fiscal 1999 were the children's imprint Tommy Nelson, in which sales increased 35%, and its inspirational gift book line, J. Countryman.
Bible sales have benefited from the sale of electronic Bibles and biblical reference books; 75% of Nelson's Bible line is now available in electronic form. Among its electronic products are collections centered on Bible study, electronic libraries featuring well-known authors and software for preparing Bible study lessons. Nelson said it is aggressively pursuing new digital formats for its Bibles, such as the Internet and e-books.
