Profits Bounce Back at HarperCollins
By Jim Milliot -- Publishers Weekly, 11/4/2009 3:11:00 PM
After a difficult fiscal 2009, which ended June 30, HarperCollins reported a big jump in operating profit for the first quarter ended September 30, though sales slipped slightly. Profits in the period rose to $20 million from $3 million in the comparable period in fiscal 2009, while total revenue fell 1.5%, to $310 million. Excluding currency fluctuations, revenue would have been up by about 2%. HC CEO Brian Murray said he was “very happy” with the quarter, noting that HC publishers “did a good job of publishing into a difficult retail environment.”On the sales side, the U.S. children’s group had a solid quarter with a number of titles performing well led by hardcover and paperback sales of Where the Wild Things Are and The Vampire Diaries. “The children’s and teen areas have held up well,” Murray said. Sales in the American adult group benefited from a number of hardcovers that have moved into trade paperback including The Story of Edgar Sawtelle and Freakonomics. Sales of e-books remain strong in the U.S., Murray said, and account for about 4% of adult group revenue. Zondervan is “on plan” Murray said, noting that the Christian market remains challenging.
Profit improvement was due in part to the restructuring efforts implemented at the company earlier in the calendar year as well as from better backlist sales. Murray noted that in the previous quarter the major accounts had all but stopped ordering backlist, but resumed buying in the most recent quarter, albeit at lower levels.
Sales in HC’s international groups met expectations, and Murray is hoping for a boost in the current quarter in the U.K. in particular from the Booker winner Wolf Hall. Murray said he is “pleased how we are positioned for the fall,” with a number of possible big books by the likes of Sarah Palin, Barbara Kingsolver, and Michael Crichton. Results in the holiday season “will come down to whether consumers want to buy books or not,” Murray said.
