MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
September 20 – September 27, 2007 Edition
Hachette USA
Boosts Performance
for Lagardere Publishing
NEW YORK, NY/9/13/2007–LAGARDERE SCA’s Lagardere Publishing division, encompassing Hachette Book Group USA and other publishing units worldwide, increased its sales by 10.6% on a reported basis to 897 (about $1.2 billion) during the first half of 200. The parent company also reported last week that on a like-for-like basis, publishing sales were up 1.7% for the period. The increase includes a full six months of sales for Time Warner Group, which was acquired by Lagardere in April 2006 and renamed Hachette Book Group USA.
Hachette USA was a key growth driver in the Lagardere Publishing division. USA sales, driven by a number of bestsellers, accounted for 20% of Lagardere’s total publishing performance for this period, nearly doubling America’s market share over the comparative period in 2006.
The entire book publishing subsidiary is the world’s third larger publisher and produces about 12 million new titles annually.
Overall, Lagardere consolidated net sales are up 6.8% on a like-for-like basis to 3,955m, vs. 3,705m for the same period in 2006, and the company had strong growth in net income to 499m (versus 280m in the first half of of 2006).
The company said the growth was in line with its expectations and that it is “on track” to meet its sales projections for the last six months of the year in US, UK and French markets as well as the educational market.
