Finance

The Quarto Group accomplished its three major goals during the first six months of 2019: company revenue was stabilized, operating losses were cut, and debt was reduced to $65 million, from $73.2 million in the first half of 2018.

Book sales rose by $400,000 in the second quarter of 2019 over the comparable period a year ago at Regnery Publishing, the publisher's parent company, Salem Media, reported. Sales for all of Salem's publishing division rose 3.7% in the period.

With all of its major divisions posting sales gains in fiscal 2019, HC saw earnings hit $253 million last year, from $239 in fiscal 2018. Sales were $1.75 billion.

Higher sales of print books and digital audiobooks drove revenue and profit gains in the first quarter of 2019 at Simon & Schuster, and the same scenario played out for the second quarter, as sales rose to $218 million and profits reached $33 million in the period.

LSC Communications reported that second quarter revenue fell 7.7%, to $869 million, and the company had a net loss of $24 million, compared to earnings of $8 million in the second quarter of 2018.

Revenue at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media unit rose 8% over the second quarter of 2018, while revenue in its education division increased 9%.

Roughly a week after it announced it was cancelling its planned purchase of LSC Communications due to objections from the Department of Justice, Quad reported that second quarter sales fell 1.2% compared to a year ago. It had a net loss of $14.7 million.

The tech giant had second quarter revenue of $63 billion, while net income rose to $2.6 billion from $2.5 billion in last year's second quarter.

Scholastic cited a host of factors for a 55% decline in operating income in the fiscal year ended May 31, 2019. Revenue rose 2% in the year.

Revenue at Hachette Book Group fell 1.5% in the first half of 2019 compared to a year ago, but profits were up.