Random U.S. Even in 2005

By Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 4/17/2006

Random House's sales in the U.S., helped by a favorable exchange rate, rose about 2% in 2005, to $1.46 billion. In terms of euros, sales were flat, at approximately 1.05 billion euros. Last year was the second consecutive year that sales in the U.S. were roughly even with the prior year, reflecting the difficulty a company the size of Random has in significantly moving the sales needle in a slow-growth industry. Earlier this year, Random parent company Bertelsmann reported that revenue for all of Random rose 2%, to 1.83 billion euros ($2.28 billion), while earnings before interest and taxes increased 18%, to 166 million euros.

As Random pushes into new international markets, its dependence on the U.S. lessens, though America still accounted for 57.5% of total sales last year; in 2004 the U.S. generated 58.6% of revenue and in 2003 the U.S. accounted for 66.3%. The largest increase came in other countries, which accounted for 12.1% of Random's revenue in 2005, up from 11.4% in 2004, as the company's presence in Asia continues to increase. Notwithstanding the global expansion, English-language publishing generated 84.6% of revenue, down slightly from 85.6% in 2004. German-language publishing represented 12% of revenue, Spanish-language 2.6% and all other languages 0.8%.