U.K.-based Quercus Publishing reported this morning that a disappointing fourth quarter would result in a “significant” loss for the year. The company blamed the poor fourth quarter on continued problems in the retail channel in the U.K. and lower than expected increased in e-book sales over the holidays. Quercus’ newly-established U.S. division had “encouraging” results Quercus said, hitting its gross sales target.

The company, the U.K. publisher of the Stieg Larsson titles, said it will continue its strategy of diversifying its revenue beyond the Larsson franchise and noted that non-Larsson sales were up almost 25% in 2013 over 2012