After more than a year of divestitures, restructuring, and write-offs, Wiley posted a huge gain in profits in the fiscal year ended April 30, 2025, despite a drop in sales compared to fiscal 2024. The disparity was due largely to a $171 million in one-time charges, which the company took in fiscal 2024 related to the company makeover, compared to charges of $25.6 million last year. As a result, operating income in the year jumped to $221.4 million, from $52.3 million in fiscal 2024. Total sales fell 10.4% to $1.68 billion, but excluding revenue from divested businesses, revenue was up 3%.
In a prepared statement, Wiley president and CEO Matthew Kissner said the company’s “multi-year journey of continuous improvement and innovation is yielding material gains in profitable revenue growth, margin expansion, and cash generation.” In the recently concluded fourth quarter, Wiley, which has aggressively pursued partnerships with artificial intelligence companies over the past two years, reported signing a $18 million AI licensing agreement with a third tech company and seeing AI licensing revenue in the year total $40 million, compared to $23 million in fiscal 2024.
The AI revenue was reported in Wiley’s Learning segment, where sales rose 2%, to $585 million. The increase was entirely due to a 3% increase in its academic group, where sales rose to $334 million, helped by “strong demand” for Wiley’s inclusive access and digital courseware materials. The group recorded $9 million of the new AI license in the fourth quarter and will record another $9 million in the current period. Sales in the professional group were flat, at $251 million, with Wiley citing a soft retail market hurting sales in the year.
Full year revenue in Wiley’s Research segment increased 3%, to $1.07 billion. Sales in the journal publishing group increased 3%, to $922.5 million, and revenue in the solution unit increased 2%, to $153 million.
With its restructuring behind it, Wiley predicted revenue in fiscal 2026 would be approximately $1.67 billion, an increase of about 2.6%, while its adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) would improve from 22.8% to 24% in the current fiscal year. The company based its projections on solid demand in its journals group and “steady market trends” for the academic unit. It gave a conflicting forecast for AI licensing, noting that while it expects to record more AI revenue this year, at this point the amount will not match the $40 million reported in fiscal 2025.
This story has been updated.
