Finance
Educational Development Corp.’s rapid revenue growth stalled in the second quarter ended August 31, 2018, but the company still posted earnings growth of nearly 44%.
After a number of months of sales gains, revenue at that nation's bookstores fell 1.2% in August compared to a year ago, according to preliminary estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Scholastic revenue rose 15% in the quarter ended August 31, driven by a 40% increase in its children's book and distribution group where trade sales jumped 26%. Sales also benefited from an accounting change.
Cenveo was able to wipe away more than $800 million in debt, largely at the expense of its shareholders and other unsecured creditors.
According to figures from the AAP’s StatShot program, sales of adult books rose 11.1% in July over a year ago, while sales in the children’s/ya segment increased 10.3%.
Quarto Group said that as part of a companywide cost cutting program, it is shutting its Minneapolis office and closing its Voyageur Press imprint. The Cool Springs and Motorbooks imprints are continuing.
The 2018 sales decline was mainly due to a 13.6% drop in sales in the K-12 instructional materials segment. The two main consumer categories had gains with adult book sales up 4.2% and children’s/young adult sales inching up 0.3% over the first half of 2017.
Operating income rose 23.5% at John Wiley for the quarter ended July 31, over the comparable period a year ago.
The first six months of 2018 proved to be a mixed period for the five large trade publishers that report their financial results.
Revenue fell 3.3% in the first half of 2018 compared to a year ago at Penguin Random House, and earnings dropped 17%. The decline was attributed mainly to the negative impact of foreign exchange rates.