Finance

An increase in its First Day Complete sales and lower costs in its second period resulted in a jump in earnings, on flat sales, at Barnes & Noble Education, which operates more than 1,270 college stores.

As part of its efforts to create a leaner and more profitable company, Wiley began its restructuring plan in the second quarter, which included consolidating some functions and selling assets.

The U.K.-based publisher said a proposed stock market delisting will save money and give it more flexibility to react to business challenges and opportunities. The U.S. is Quarto's largest market.

Salem Media Group, parent company of Regnery Publishing, has been selling assets in an effort to cut its debt debt load, but a proposed sale of the publisher has been called off.

Under what it calls a "new English-language management structure," Hachette Livre has named Hachette UK CEO David Shelley head of both Hachette Book Group and HUK, while current HBG CEO Michael Pietsch will retire as CEO and serve as chairman of the new group.

Three of the Big Five publishers struggled in the first nine months of 2023, according to recent financial results, as the industry coped with sagging sales and rising costs.

Revenue in the quarter ended September 30, 2023, rose 8% over fiscal 2023 at HarperCollins, and profits jumped 67%. Executives at parent company News Corp expect the publisher to show marked improvement over last year.

After a long run of record financial results, sales at Simon & Schuster fell 13%, and operating income dropped 35.5%, in the third quarter ended September 30, 2023. Nonetheless, CEO Jonathan Karp is excited about prospects for both the holiday season and life after Paramount Global.

Total sales at Amazon increased 13%, to $143.1 billion, in the third quarter ended September 30, 2023, over the comparable period in 2022, and operating income jumped to $11.2 billion, from $2.5 billion in the third quarter 2022. Online sales rose 7%.

Sales were up 11% and profits increased 8% in the first half of the U.K.-based publisher's fiscal year. Sales in the U.S. were about $76 million, accounting for 46% of total revenue.