Random House Reports Earnings, 200% E-book Sales Growth
Random House
Highlights
- Random House profits rise substantially driven by U.S.
- Triple-digit percentage sales growth in e-books
- Digital revenue potential strengthened through acquisition of digital media agency Smashing Ideas
The world's largest trade book publisher significantly increased its operating EBIT in the first half, while recording a slight dip in revenues due to unfavorable exchange-rate effects. Revenues reached €787 million (H1 2010: €791 million) and operating EBIT €69 million (H1 2010: €40 million). The Random House operating EBIT benefited from a strong U.S. performance despite insolvencies and ongoing consolidations in book retail. Overall gains were driven by an outstanding portfolio of titles worldwide, with several million-copy print bestsellers, and the continued rapid growth in e-book sales across all territories. In the U.S., digital sales accounted for more than 20 percent of all revenues. At the reporting date, Random House imprints had more than 27,000 e-books available worldwide. Random House placed 145 titles on the "New York Times" U.S. bestseller lists in the first six months of the year, including the #1 bestselling "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand, and sold nearly four million copies of U.S. author George R.R. Martin's epic fantasy series "A Song of Ice and Fire." Random House Group UK increased its year-on-year sales and profits and published more than a quarter of all "Sunday Times" bestsellers. In Germany, Verlagsgruppe Random House improved its revenues and market share in a difficult overall market, and Random House Mondadori also outperformed the market in Spain. During the period under review, Random House, Inc. author Jennifer Egan won a Fiction Pulitzer Prize for "A Visit from the Goon Squad," and Philip Roth won the Man Booker International Prize.
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