Major publishers get off to a good start in 2021

The financial statements of the five major trade publishers show a sharp increase in revenue compared to the first quarter of 2020.
Journal Publishers Weekly cited the financial statements of the first quarter of the 5 largest commercial publishers in the United States. This is the last report of two of these publishers, because the merger and acquisition between the “big guys” in the book village will take place in the near future.

It is expected that Penguin Random House will complete the acquisition of Simon & Schuster in the second quarter; HarperCollins completed the purchase of Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s commercial division on June 30. Illustration: Finance images. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Books & Media posted $42.7 million in revenue for the first quarter, up 12% year-over-year. Currently, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has closed its New York office pending the completion of the sale. For its part, HarperCollins posted a 45% increase in profits in the first quarter, with revenue up 19% from the first three months of 2020. Revenue came in at $490 million, while EBITDA hit $80 million. Susan Panuccio, chief financial officer of News Corp (parent company of HarperCollins), said the increase in sales was driven by the general commercial and children’s books industry in the US and UK. Panuccio revealed that printed books accounted for 62% of sales in the quarter. In terms of format, sales of e-books increased by 38% and audiobooks increased by 42%. In a short financial update, Bertelsmann (the parent company of Penguin Random House) said that Penguin Random House was one of several divisions of the company that posted double-digit growth in the first quarter compared to the same period of 2020. Simon & Schuster is currently decommissioned, pending acquisition completion. Simon & Schuster’s parent company, Viacom CBS, had $185 million in revenue, up 8.8% from the first quarter of 2020. Jonathan Karp – CEO of Viacom CBS – reported that the biggest increase came from the international division. publisher economy, where revenue increased 21%. In which, sales of audio books increased sharply (17%). Some outstanding books in 2020. Photo: Nytimes. Hachette Book Group is one of the 5 largest trade publishers in the US. In the first quarter, Hachette’s revenue grew 9.1% year-on-year. Michael Pietsch, Hachette CEO, said the increase was driven by sales of hardcover books. Hachette’s distribution business, he noted, has seen double-digit growth. Hachette’s total revenue reached 509 million euros (about 619 million dollars). In addition to the increase in book sales in the US, Hachette’s sales also increased in France and the UK, offsetting declines in the Spanish and Latin American markets. Hachette’s digital books performed well in the first quarter, but e-books only accounted for 9% of total sales. The share of audiobook sales fell to 4.6% from 5.9% in the first three months of 2020. Despite the growth compared to 2020, US publishing units are cautious about developments in the coming time. As more professions reopen, consumers have more options besides reading.