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HM Posts Mixed 2nd-Qtr. Results
-- 8/3/98
Higher product development costs, plus an after-tax charge of $600,000 related to its unsuccessful bid to acquire a portion of Simon &Schuster, resulted in a 35% decline in second-quarter net income at Houghton Mifflin, to $7.2 million. Sales in the period were nearly flat, $202.7 million in 1998, compared to $202.3 million in 1997. During the quarter, educational sales increased to $182.6 million from $180 million, led by double-digit gains in HM's McDougal Littell, Great Source Education Group and Riverside Publishing Company divisions. College sales were up modestly, while school group sales fell. Sales in the general publishing group dropped to $20.2 million from $22.5 million, largely due to the expiration of the Insight Travel Guide distribution arrangement and a smaller spring list.
For the first six months of 1998, sales were up 1.2%, to $274.4 million, while the net loss increased to $30 million from $16 million. Company chairman Nader Darehshori called the results better than expected, and said the company may exceed its revenue goal for the full year and should meet its earnings expectations.

HM also announced last week that it had bought Computer Adaptive Technologies. CAT specializes in certification and credentialing tests, a new market for HM.
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