Harlequin On Track  

-- Publishers Weekly, 10/30/2008 9:08:00 AM

Harlequin made it through the third quarter with revenue up 2.4%, to C$118.1 million ($97 million), although operating profit slipped 3.7%, to C$15.6 million ($13 million). Parent company Torstar said the decline in earnings was due to unfavorable exchange rates with “underlying” profits flat. Sales in the North America retail market were up, but revenue declined in the North American direct-to-consumer division as well as in its Overseas segment.

In the U.S., sales of series and single titles were both up. Similar to Simon & Schuster, Harlequin benefitted from strong sales from established authors including Heather Graham and Debbie Macomber. Its first nonfiction title, Love Matters, also got off to a strong start.

For the first nine months of 2008, Harlequin revenue was down 2.7%, to C$346.7 million, although profits were up 5.0%, to C$50.3 million. Torstar said results through the nine months have been led by strong gains in Harlequin’s North America retail market and strong digital manga sales in Japan. Torstar said it anticipates a satisfactory fourth quarter, noting that while the company remains “concerned that the U.S. economy could have a negative impact on Harlequin’s results, but to date there is no evidence of this.” A Harlequin spokesperson said they expect several Christmas-themed titles to do well this year, including Macomber's A Cedar Grove Christmas.  The second title in the publisher's nonfiction line, Safe Passage, will also hit in the quarter.