MAIN NEWS HEADLINES
September 14 – September 21, 2006 Edition
John Wiley & Sons
Reports Strong Revenue
Earnings for First Quarter
HOBOKEN, N.J./9/12/2006John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (NYSE:JWa) (NYSE:JWb) has announced that revenue for fiscal year 2007 (at the end of the first quarter July 31) increased 11% to $263 million and operating income increased 9% to $35.0 million. Net income rose 8% to $21.9 million.
“Wiley’s strong first quarter performance was driven by continued momentum in all of our global businesses,” said William J. Pesce, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We are well positioned to take advantage of growth opportunities during this fiscal year and beyond. Based on first quarter results, leading indicators, and market conditions, the company expects growth in the fiscal year 2007 will be in the mid single digits.
Wiley’s U.S. Professional Trade (P/T) divisions revenue for the first quarter advanced 9% over prior year to $85.7 million. The solid first quarter performance was led by business and consumer cooking, professional education, the online advertising program and the sale of rights. Direct contribution to profit increased 2% to $19.2 million. Globally, P/T revenue in the first quarter increased 14% over the same period in the previous year.
First quarter highlights include the publication of Hotel California by Barry Hoskyns; What Israel Means to Me by Alan Dershowitz; One Party Country by Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten; Unwarranted Intrusions by Martin Fridson; Black Gold by George Orwel; Big Ripoff by Timothy B. Carney; Econospinning by Gene Epstein; Windows Vista For Dummies, Special Preview Edition by Andy Rathbone; Trump University Real Estate 101 by Gary Eldred; Trump University Marketing 101 by Donald Sexton; a custom edition of Betty Crocker: Cocina; Betty Crocker: Easy Everyday Vegetarian; and Betty Crocker: Why It Works.
The first three books of a new series designed to replace the venerable Frommer’s Dollar-a-Day series that started in 1957 were published: Pauline Frommer’s New York City; Pauline Frommer’s Hawaii; and Pauline Frommer’s Italy. Also during the quarter, Wiley published the fourth edition of Complete Adult Treatment Planner by Arthur E. Jongsma Jr., which includes, validated evidence-based treatment interventions that are critical in the changing mental-health landscape. The Company also began publishing the International Society for Performance Improvement’s journal, in print and online through Wiley InterScience.
Several P/T titles received considerable media and customer attention during the quarter. Hotel California was listed on The Los Angeles Times Bestseller List. Other titles that remained on national and regional bestseller lists included Patrick Lencioni’s Five Dysfunctions of a Team; Michael Masterson’s Automatic Wealth; Eric Tyson and Ray Brown’s Home Buying For Dummies; Eric Tyson’s Investing For Dummies; SuDoku For Dummies by Andrew Herron and Edmund James; and The Little Book That Beat the Market by Joel Greenblatt.
The AMA Family Medical Guide was named one of the top books of the year by Prevention Magazine and was subsequently featured on the Today Show and in USA Weekend Magazine. Frank McKinney’s Maverick Approach to Real Estate was showcased on ABC News’ 20/20 and Barb Schwartz’s Home Staging was the focus of a two-part series on NBC’s Weekend Today. Business Week listed two Wiley books, Against the Gods by Peter L. Bernstein and Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip A. Fisher and Kenneth L. Fisher, among the eight books recommended by dozens of professional investors in an article entitled, “Must-Read For Investor.” Lisa Yockelson’s ChocolateChocolate and Paula Wolfert’s Cooking of Southwest France were included in Food & Wine magazine’s annual Best of the Best Cookbooks.
Several Wiley authors and publications received awards during the quarter. Scott Green, author of Manager’s Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Sarbanes-Oxley and the Board of Directors, was one of five professionals added by the American Institute of CPAs to its Business and Industry Hall of Fame. Six Wiley journals and newsletters received Apex Awards of Excellence in multiple categories.
During the quarter, Wiley announced an agreement with Microsoft to publish business books under a Microsoft Executive Circle series. The first title, Think Factory: Managing Today’s Most Precious Resource: Information by Susan Conway, is scheduled for release early in 2007. In May, the Company signed the first titles in a new alliance with Computer Associates. The American Culinary Federation endorsed two Wiley’s titles, Supervision in the Hospitality Industry: Applied Human Resources, 5th Edition by Jack E. Miller, John R. Walker, and Karen Eich Drummond and Nutrition for Foodservice and Culinary Professionals, 6th edition by Karen Eich Drummond and Lisa M. Brefere.
Other Wiley divisions also showed improvement.
The U.S. Scientific, Technical, and Medical (STM) revenue increased 10% to $53.6 million over the previous year’s first quarter. These results were driven by increased revenue from journal subscriptions, controlled-circulation advertising and books. New businesses and publications acquired during the past year, such as InfoPOEMs, Dialysis & Transplantation, The Hospitalist, and the Journal of Orthopaedic Research, contributed $1.2 million, or 2%, to the year-on-year growth. Direct contribution to profit increased 2%.
The growing value of Wiley’s journals to the scientific community was evident in the results of the recently announced Thomson ISI® 2005 ISI Journal Citation Reports, an independent ranking of impact factors, which measure how often a journal’s articles are cited by other researchers. Globally, 65% of Wiley global journals included in the Journal Citation Report’s Science Edition increased their impact factors. The STM book program experienced another solid quarter, fueled by growth in online revenue and strong title output.
U.S. Higher Education revenue grew 5% to $47.7 million over the first quarter of fiscal year 2006. The improvement was principally due to strong sales in the accounting and social sciences programs. Globally, Higher Education revenue increased 7% over prior year.
Among its many activities, Wiley and the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to innovation and improvement in U.S. schools, signed an agreement to co-produce a series of six textbooks employing project-based learning, which has been demonstrated to deepen the knowledge of the subject matter, increase self-direction, and improve research and problem solving skills.
The companys core businesses include scientific, technical, and medical journals, encyclopedias, books, and online products and services; professional and consumer books and subscription services; and educational materials for undergraduate and graduate students and lifelong learners. Wiley has publishing, marketing, and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols JWa and JWb. Wiley’s Internet site can be accessed at www.wiley.com.
