MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
August 2 – August 9, 2006 Edition
Lagardere Publishing
Revenues Boosted
By Time Warner Assets
PARIS, FRANCE/7/26/07–Lagardere SCA, the French media company that owns Hachette Book Group (formerly Time Warner Book Group) in the U.S., reported a 6.8% revenue increase for the six months ended June 30, 2007 to €3,955.4m (or a 1.2% increase on a like-for-like basis).
Total revenue in Lagardere Publishing (formerly the Books division) rose 10.6% in line with expectations to 896.6 million euros ($1.23 billion), boosted by the inclusion of sales from Time Warner Book Group (impact: €82m), which in 2006 reporting was consolidated only from April 1. On a like-for-like basis, revenues for the six months to June 30, 2007 rose by 1.7%.
Also in the United States, Grand Central and Little Brown (formerly Time Warner Book Group) enjoyed very strong growth thanks to significant volumes of new titles.
In France, Education recorded further strong growth, driven by primary and distance learning sales at Hatier. Distribution was boosted by the new contracts with Dunod, Dalloz and Armand Colin. Literature recorded a marked drop in sales, reflecting a quarter with few new titles. Larousse, where the shake-up in editorial lines is ongoing, also saw sales fall sharply pending the launch of new collections scheduled for the latter part of the year.
In Spain, Anaya slipped back after a very good start to the year, under the temporary effect of significant publication timing differences relating to back-to-school dates.
In the United Kingdom, Hodder Headline continued to make good progress, though at a slightly slower pace than in the first quarter.
The 2007 outlook for Lagardere Publishing’s second half are good, especially for Education in France and Spain (where the effect of publication timing differences is set to be recouped in the third quarter) and for Literature in the United States, the company said. However, sales growth will as expected be dented by weak sales in Literature in France (a low-margin business) and at Larousse (elimination of loss-making editorial lines).
