From Publishers Weekly:
The first six months of 2019 were something of a mixed bag for trade publishers whose financial results are publicly reported.
Penguin Random House had by far the best first half of 2019, with earnings jumping 33% over the comparable period in 2018, while revenue rose 11.3%. Operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose from €171 million in the first six months of 2018, to €227 million, PRH parent company Bertelsmann reported. Sales were €1.65 billion, up from €1.48 billion.
Acquisitions and hundreds of bestsellers drove the gains. Three acquisitions in particular affected first-half results, as detailed by PRH CEO Markus Dohle in a letter to worldwide employees: the purchases of children’s publisher Little Tiger Group in London as well as Spanish-language literary publisher Ediciones Salamandra and Catalan-language publisher La Campana Llibres, both of which are based in Barcelona. The company also acquired a 45% stake in Sourcebooks in late May.
Organic growth was led once again by Michelle Obama’s Becoming, which sold more than 2.8 million copies across all PRH companies in the first half of the year. Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens sold over two million copies in all formats in the period. A third factor in the sales growth was “high growth rates in audio formats,” Bertelsmann said. In his letter, Dohle also noted PRH’s “thriving” distribution business.
. . . .
Revenue at HarperCollins fell 5.4% in the first six months of 2019 compared to last year, and earnings dropped 14.1%. Much of the decline was due to a down second quarter (or fourth quarter for HC, which operates on a June 30 fiscal year). The company was facing a difficult comparison to the second quarter in calendar 2018 primarily because of the absence of $28 million of revenue from the Lord of the Rings trilogy licensing agreement in the prior year, lower sales of Magnolia Table by Joanna Gaines, and $18 million less in revenue as a result of adopting the new revenue recognition standard.
The decline was partially offset by the success of new releases such as Everything Is F*cked by Mark Manson and The World’s Worst Teachers by David Walliams. Audiobook sales were generally strong in the first half of the year, offsetting soft e-book sales. Overall, sales in the second quarter were down 14% from a year ago, offsetting a 5.8% sales increase in the first quarter.
Link to the rest at Publishers Weekly
When PG examined this article, he saw only three comments, each a generic pitch for a website that promised the reader that he/she could earn big money for a work-from-home online job.
“I am making $92 an hour working from home. . . .”
“My last month paycheck was for 11000 dollars. . . .”
“Every month makes more than $15,000 just by working online home job in spare time.”
PG is not certain exactly what the relationship between the OP and the comments might mean.
How could Big Publishing and shady get-rich-quick schemes be related?
@PG
“How could Big Publishing and shady get-rich-quick schemes be related?”
Because they both need gullible suckers to be successful?
Harper Collins is losing money in boom times? Dead man walking.
It would be interesting to know of Penguin actually had any increase in earnings. Inflating them by acquisitions of other companies is rather amusing. It has nothing whatsoever to do with Penguin’s sales.
Sarcasm becomes you, PG.
I wonder what will happen when the randy Penguin runs out of publishers to take over. Will their numbers look like HC?