Finance

Helped by a strong performance in the fourth quarter ended April 30, 2021, revenue at John Wiley rose 6% in fiscal year 2021 over fiscal 2020. The company reported operating income of $185 million.

Helped by a 27% increase in sales in North America, revenues at Bloomsbury rose 14% in the fiscal year ended February 28, 2021, while profits increased 22%. The company also announced it bought the U.K. trade publisher Head of Zeus.

With sales in all categories posting double-digit increases, sales for the 1,358 publishers that report results to the AAP’s StatShot program rose 22.3% over the comparable period in 2020 for the first quarter of 2021.

Big gains in digital and backlist sales combined to drive up profits at HarperCollins by 45% in the quarter ended March 31, 2021, while sales rose 19%.

First quarter financial reports from five major trade publishers showed the sales momentum that built up through 2020 has carried over into this year.

First quarter sales at learning technology company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt fell 3.7% compared to last year's first period, but its bottom line showed improvement. The trade group saw a 12% jump in sales, but those revenues are not included in HMH's official results.

Sales and profits rose in the first quarter of 2021 over the comparable period in 2020 at Simon & Schuster, led by double-digit gains in its international and audio divisions.

First quarter revenue at Amazon soared 44%, and profits doubled. Online store sales jumped 44%, to $36.6 billion.

Led by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, several professional writers' organizations and authors have formed the #DisneyMustPay task force, petitioning Walt Disney Co. to honor author contracts.

Higher sales of print and digital books and a decline in returns contributed to a solid net sales increase in the first two months of 2021 over the comparable period in 2020 for publishers that report to AAP.