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Feb 28 – Mar 06, 2011 Edition Penguin Posts Record 2010 Profits

NEW YORK, NY/AUTHORLINK NEWS/February 28, 2011–Penguin, the international publishing company, today announced record financial results for 2010 with sales of £1,053m and operating profit of £106m, representing underlying growth of 6% and 26% respectively. The company’s market share gains and improved profitability were attributable to three factors in particular:

Another outstanding US publishing performance included a record number of bestsellers, an increase in market share and rapid expansion in emerging digital platforms and formats. In the US, eBook sales nearly tripled. Penguin in the UK celebrated the best year in its history, dominating the bestseller lists and increasing its market share by two percentage points to 10 percent. Penguin UK sales were up 21% in a market that was down 2%. DK captured the full benefit of the reorganization undertaken in 2009, with sales of its LEGO® and Star Wars™ titles boosting revenue and the transfer of some editorial activities to India enhancing the company’s margin.

Penguin’s profits were struck after making provision for a number of credit exposures in the book retailing sector, most notably in relation to Borders in the US.

These Penguin results were part of an excellent overall Pearson performance in 2010.

Penguin Group Chairman and Chief Executive, John Makinson, said, “We are truly delighted with these results. The achievement of more than £100m in profit represents a landmark for Penguin but of greater significance are the quality and consistency of performance that underpin this result. The company has been gaining market share on every continent by combining an appetite for measured commercial and creative risk with exemplary execution in every department of the business. We believe that these qualities will serve us in good stead as we address the proliferating challenges of 2011.”

Penguin Group (USA) CEO David Shanks said, “Penguin Group (USA) had another fantastic year and the company continued to grow its market share in a difficult retail environment. Our sales, profits and margins were all up over those of the previous exceptionally strong year, even after making provision for bad debt exposure on Borders. Our outstanding publishing programs across the house included a record number of bestsellers, an increase in market share, and rapid expansion in emerging digital platforms and formats. Our Young Readers Group achieved its best year ever. International sales had double-digit sales growth for the tenth consecutive year. Our backlist continued to be very healthy and strong. And we won a Pulitzer Prize and two National Book Awards. Looking ahead, we have an excellent 2011 publishing list.”

Penguin Group (USA)’s 2010 results were driven by the continuation of Penguin’s strategy of maximizing bestselling author brands while introducing new ones. Providing readers everywhere with books in whatever format they prefer also yielded benefits across the company’s digital publishing programs, partnerships, and innovations. In general, eBook sales nearly tripled, and Penguin’s Nora Roberts and Charlaine Harris each passed a million-eBook-units-sold-across-all-accounts.