Wiley was founded in 1807 and competes in three markets represented by its core divisions: Scientific, Technical, Medical, and Scholarly (STMS); Professional/Trade (P/T); and Global Education. STMS (also known as Wiley-Blackwell) is the largest publisher for professional and scholarly societies. Wiley-Blackwell's programs encompass journals, books, major reference works, databases, and laboratory manuals, offered in print and electronically. P/T offers professionals and consumers books, subscription content, and information services in all media under targeted categories. Global Education publishes educational materials in all media formats.

Key Company Developments in 2012 & 2013

Financial:

Wiley’s fiscal performance in 2012 closed with a record high of 1.78 billion USD against 1.75 billion USD in 2011. The growth in Scientific, Technical, Medical and Scholarly (STMS) was partially offset by declines in Professional/Trade (P/T) and Global Education (GEd).

The STMS segment recorded the highest growth with 1.04 billion USD from journal subscriptions, books and other publishing income. The P/T Revenue declined 1% to 433.7 million USD. On a currency neutral basis, book revenue decreased 3% to 378.4 million USD while other publishing income grew 11% to 55.3 million USD. The decline in book revenue came mainly from the consumer line (8 million USD), cooking and travel, and technology and business (2 million USD).

GEd revenue for fiscal year 2012 increased 1% to 308.4 million USD but declined 1% excluding the favorable impact of foreign exchange. The decline reflects lower revenue from print books, partially offset by growth in non-traditional and digital content revenue and other publishing income.

The company’s revenue grew at a compound annual rate of 8% over the past five years, which includes the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing in February 2007.

Ownership, Mergers & Acquisition, Internal Organization:

In February 2012, Wiley acquired Inscape, a leading provider of workplace learning solutions, for approximately 85 million USD. In March 2012 Wiley announced that a number of consumer print and digital publishing assets in its Professional/Trade business would be sold, including the well-known Frommer’s travel brand, culinary, general interest, nautical, pets, crafts, Webster’s New World, and Cliff’s Notes, which together are worth approximately 80 million USD.

Wiley promotes an active and growing Professional/Trade custom publishing program, with For Dummies publications customized to meet specific information needs of a wide range of organizations around the world.

International:

Approximately 50% of the company's revenue is generated outside the United States. Wiley prioritized expansion into the Middle East, China, and Brazil.

Digital:

Approximately 40% of the Company’s revenue for fiscal year 2012 was generated from digital products and services, as compared to 37% in the prior year. Digital revenue now accounts for 61% of total STMS revenue, against 59% last year.

In September, Wiley launched the Wiley Job Network, a new online recruitment tool that enables employers to attract talented applicants from high-caliber members in the fields of science, technology, healthcare, law, and business. The network has surpassed 50,000 registered users and over 2 million job views since its launch.

Digital revenue accounted for 15% of total P/T revenue, up from 10% in the prior year. E-book sales increased approximately 70% over the prior year to approximately 40 million USD, or 9% of total P/T revenue. Strong e-book growth came from all accounts, notably Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Apple.

Bestselling Authors & Titles:

In 20 years, the For Dummies series has seen 1,600 titles with 250 million books printed. In addition, more than 40 Dummies apps and a live subscription service providing technical support around-the-clock via phone and chat were recently launched. Wiley stated in the 2011 annual report that "[For Dummies] is the fastest-growing such service in the market with 30% month-on-month growth.”

Earlier Developments:

In May 2011, Wiley’s key personnel were transitioned. Stephen M. Smith became Wiley’s new President and CEO, succeeding William J. Pesce who retired after 22 years. During the last year, three new Senior Vice Presidents were appointed leader of Wiley’s three core businesses: Mark Allin joined the Professional/Trade segment, Steven Miron became Vice President in the STMS business, and Joseph Heider was named Vice President of Global Education. All of them have been serving the company in major roles for several years.

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