Scholastic Sales Near $2 Billion
Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 7/23/2001
Boosted by $378.7 million in revenues from its Grolier acquisition and a boy named Harry, total revenues at Scholastic jumped 40%, to $1.96 billion, for the year ended May 31, 2001. Due to $72.9 million in one-time charges, Scholastic's net income fell 29%, to $36.3 million. Excluding the charges, which were related to the company's decision not to update its Literary Place product, net income was up 47%, to $83.7 million.
With approximately $200 million in Harry Potter sales plus revenues from Grolier, Scholastic's children's book publishing & distribution group revenues topped the $1-billion mark, rising 42% to $1.22 billion. Within the group, trade sales increased 46%. School book fair sales rose 15%, while school book clubs had a modest sales gain.
Scholastic's educational publishing group actually had the largest sales gain at the company; revenues were ahead 46%, to $309.7 million. Grolier's print and online reference business added $65.4 million to sales, while core sales increased 16%.
Revenues in the company's media, licensing & advertising group increased 24%, to $134 million. Entertainment revenue more than doubled, due to fees for Clifford, while advertising revenue rose 15% and software sales grew modestly.
International sales rose 32%, to $296.7 million, aided by $80.9 million in sales from Grolier's international businesses.
