MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
December 13 – December 20, 2007 Edition
John Wiley Shows
Strong Second Half,
Boosted by Blackwell
HOBOKEN, NJ/12/10/07–John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has announced that revenue for the second quarter and first-half of fiscal year 2008 advanced 49% and 48% to $423 million and $812 million, respectively. Revenue from Blackwell Publishing Ltd. (Blackwell), which was acquired in February 2007, boosted quarterly performance by $116 million and year-to-date results by $232 million. Revenue for the second quarter and first-half, excluding Blackwell, increased over prior year by 8% and 6%, respectively, or 5% and 4% excluding favorable foreign exchange.
“Wiley’s top-line growth was driven by the acquisition of Blackwell and the strong global performance of our Professional/Trade business. Revenue in the second quarter from Higher Education and Scientific, Technical, and Medical increased modestly from strong prior year performances,” said William J. Pesce, President & Chief Executive Officer.
Regarding Blackwell, which is the largest acquisition in Wiley’s 200-year history, Mr. Pesce commented, “We have established a global leadership team, including colleagues from Blackwell and Wiley. A comprehensive plan for the migration to a unified online platform has been developed and is being implemented. We have made significant progress consolidating the infrastructures of both companies, and we are benefiting from Blackwell’s proven off-shoring capabilities. I am pleased to report that we have added 51 new society publishing agreements and renewed or extended 33 existing agreements in this fiscal year, both of which are important leading indicators.”
Mr. Pesce added, “We are honored and proud that nine of this year’s Nobel Prize winners are members of Wiley’s author community, along with more than 350 Nobel Laureates who have published with us over the years. Our Nobel Laureates represent every category in which the prize is awarded: Literature, Economics, Physiology/Medicine, Physics, Chemistry, and Peace. Collaborating with this esteemed group reflects Wiley’s unwavering commitment to publishing “must have” content and sharing it with readers around the world.”
Mr. Pesce concluded, “Based on year-to-date results, leading indicators and market conditions, we reaffirm our guidance for fiscal year 2008 revenue growth in the mid-to-high single digits and EPS growth in the low double digits, excluding the Blackwell acquisition and one-time tax benefits. Previously, our guidance for Blackwell indicated revenue of approximately $450 million, with a dilutive effect on EPS of less than $0.10 per share. We are confident that Blackwells fiscal year 2008 revenue will exceed $450 million, partly due to favorable foreign exchange. Our current forecast indicates that the acquisition will be accretive to EPS by approximately $0.10.”
The U.S. Professional/Trade unit, reported a 7% increase in second quarter and six-month sales over the comparable prior year periods to $109 million and $199 million, respectively. The strong performance was driven by the technology, business, psychology, architecture and culinary publishing programs. Licensing of content rights worldwide continue to have a positive impact on results, growing over prior year by approximately 25% in the quarter and for the six-months. Sales through online channels, national and retail accounts, and specialty retailers were all robust. Acquisitions contributed approximately $1 million to P/T’s top-line growth for the six-months.
Direct contribution to profit increased 20% for the quarter and 17% for the six-months, mainly due to top-line growth, favorable product mix and the recovery of a portion of the bad debt associated with the Advanced Marketing Services bankruptcy in the prior year.
Second quarter highlights include the publication of Mobs, Messiahs, and Markets by William Bonner and Lila Rajiva of Agora; Results That Last: Hardwiring Behaviors That Will Take Your Company to the Top by Quint Studer; The Key: The Missing Secret for Attracting Anything You Want by Jo Vitale; Leading By Example by New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson; PCs For Dummies 11th edition by Dan Gookin; Mutual Funds For Dummies 5th edition by Eric Tyson; Cisco Certified Networking Associate Study Guide 6th edition by Todd Lammle; Creating Your World: The Official Guide to Advanced Content Creation for Second Life by Aimee Weber; and Weight Watchers All-Time Favorites.
Several P/T books received considerable media and customer attention. The fourth book in the successful Little Book series, Louis Navelliers The Little Book that Makes You Rich: A Proven Market-Beating Formula for Growth Investing, quickly hit The Wall Street Journal bestseller list. Mark Bittman, author of How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, appeared on the Today show. Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Redeemed Tragedy by Donald Kraybill, Steven Nolt, and David Weaver-Zercher was featured on Good Morning America, Bill Moyer’s Journal, CBS Evening News, and in various newspapers. New England Patriot Tedy Bruschi’s Never Give Up published to great fanfare and was featured in the national and regional media. Its Getting Ugly Out There by CNNs Jack Cafferty garnered a wide range of coverage.
P/T launched several online initiatives during the second quarter, notably Student LPI (Leadership Practices Inventory) Online; which makes the successful print content available to online users, with added benefits and functionality; ten Sybex TestSuccess products, powered by ExamWeb, that offer online practice tests and additional study material for technology certification exams; six audio podcasts that support The Leadership Challenge Leadercast Series, the best-selling book and popular workshop; and WroxBlox, which are downloadable pdfs that keep customers up-to-date on cutting-edge technology topics.
Le Cordon Bleu named Marcus Samuelson’s Soul of a New Cuisine “Best Hard Cover Recipe Book”. Steven Heller, author of Becoming a Graphic Designer and Becoming a Digital Designer, was honored with a Master Series Award at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Are the Walls Really Down? Behavioral and Organizational Barriers to Faculty and Staff Diversity, a new ASHE Higher Education Report, won the Kathryn G. Hansen Publication Award. Teaching Defiance by Michael Newman and Learning in Adulthood 3rd edition by Sharan Merriam, Rosemary Caffarella, and Lisa Baumgartner shared the Cyril O. Houle World Award for Literature in Adult Education. Frank Chings A Global History of Architecture was named one of Choices outstanding academic titles. Dr. Allen Ruben, author of Research for Evidence-Based Practice, received the 2007 Significant Lifetime Achievement in Social Work Education Award.
Founded in 1807, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has been a valued source of information and understanding for 200 years; helping people around the world meet their needs and fulfill their aspirations. Since 1901, Wiley and its acquired companies have published the works of more than 350 Nobel laureates in all categories: Literature, Economics, Physiology/Medicine, Physics, Chemistry and Peace.
The company’s core businesses include scientific, technical, medical and scholarly journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional/trade publishes books, subscription products, training materials, and online applications and websites; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley’s global headquarters are located in Hoboken, New Jersey, with operations in the US, Europe, Asia, Canada, and Australia.
