Revenue at the Quarto Group rose from $65.6 million in the first half of 2014 to $66.2 million on the first six months of the current year. Nonetheless, the company's pre-tax loss increased to $1.9 million, from $600,000 last year. Still, Quarto CEO Marcus Leaver said he was pleased with the performance, noting the company is on track to have a good second half of the year, delivering growth in sales and earnings while also reducing its debt. “We are where we want to be,” he said.
Leaver told PW he was especially pleased that the international platform the company has built—in which the different worldwide divisions of the U.K.-based house work together—is performing well. Sales at Quarto Publishing Group USA rose slightly, from $27.0 million to $27.2 million in the first half of 2015, though profit dipped to $1.8 million from $2.0 million.
The work slowdown in West Coast ports hurt sales in the first few months of the year, but business has improved and the second half of the year should see better results. Quarto is one of a number of companies benefiting from the coloring book phenomenon, but Leaver said he expects the U.S. business to do well in a number of niche areas.
The company integrated Ivy Press into its U.K. business in the first part of the year and Leaver said Quarto continues to look at acquisitions in the U.S. which can become part of Quarto’s global platform.
