Sales at Hachette Book Group increased 7% thanks to a combination of strong performances by Grand Central, Orbit, and Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; another good year from the audio group; and acquisitions and new investments.
HBG had the biggest revenue gain among the worldwide publishing business of parent company Lagardère, and the U.S. and Canada accounted for 28% of Lagardère's total publishing sales of €2.87 billion, a 2.2% increase over 2023. France remained Lagardère’s largest market, despite posting a 3% sales decline, which was attributed to a drop in illustrated book sales. Sales were also down in Spain and Latin America, falling 6% from 2023, a year in which educational material sales jumped. Sales in the U.K. rose 3% due in part to Rebecca Yarros’s Empyrean series.
Total earnings before interest, taxes and amortization, or EBITA, jumped nearly 35% to €295 million, giving the publishing division a 10.3% margin. Earnings in the year included restructuring costs of €16 million, mainly in the U.S. and Spain. During 2024, HBG underwent an extensive reorganization and closed the year with the November 2024 acquisition of Union Square & Co. from Barnes & Noble. Last month, as part of the integration of Union Square, the company implemented layoffs.
Among the standout 2024 frontlist titles at HBG that CEO David Shelley pointed to wereThe Wild Robot by Peter Brown, The Housemaid by Freida McFadden, Eruption by James Patterson and the late Michael Crichton, and Revenge of the Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell. Backlist sales were also “notably resilient across the group,” Shelley said, “epitomized by What to Expect When You’re Expecting," which he noted is "still selling extremely strongly" in its 40th year.
Shelley was especially exciting about results at Hachette Audio, which had record sales in the year. “By investing in top-tier production and securing the best voice talent, audio is a core part of our publishing strategy,” he said.
Digital sales accounted for 14% of all Lagardère’s publishing sales last year, up from 12% in 2023.
Despite some national headwinds in the U.S., Shelley said he remains committed to Hachette’s Changing the Story program, which aims to publish books for the broadest possible range of readers. Last year, HBG was the sponsor for the inaugural Latinx Kidlit Book Festival Storytellers Conference, and this January, HBG hired Sara Munjack as director of diversity, equity, and inclusion—a new position created when Carrie Bloxson was promoted to chief human resources officer. And in response to lagging interest in reading, HBG is preparing to rollout its Raising Readers initiative with the aim of expanding the numbers of readers of the future.
“We have an extremely vibrant 2025 publication schedule," Shelley said, "and I’m excited about what the year has in store for HBG."
