Search
Partners
Anime News
|
Harper Bounces Back in Second Quarter Date: 2/5/2008 |
|
HarperCollins rebounded from one of its worst quarters in several years to post a 3.3% sales gain in the second quarter ended December 31, while operating income rose 24.1%, to $67 million. Profits in last year?s second quarter included a write-down from the bankruptcy of AMS. Sales in the just-concluded period were $406 million. ?I?m very happy about the recovery this quarter. I thought it would happen, but until it does you hold your breath,? said Jane Friedman, HC CEO. The gains were driven by what Friedman called the ?three Ds,? The Daring Book for Girls, The Dangerous Books for Boys and Deceptively Delicious. The three titles are continuing to sell well into the third quarter, and Friedman said the titles should become strong backlist works. Clarence Thomas?s book, My Grandfather?s Son, did much better than expected and the paperback editions of Michael Crichton?s Next and State of Fear had good showings. The addition of Hyperion to HC?s distribution ranks also added to the improved quarter. Friedman said HC has no room to add more distribution clients, although the company is open to doing more backoffice work similar to what it does for Scholastic. With Dow Jones now officially in the News Corp. fold, Friedman said HC has been working with the Wall Street Journal on different promotions and she expects to see ?a lot more synergies? between the two companies. The improvement in the quarter was not quite enough to get HC to even for the first six months of fiscal 2008. Profits for the first half were down 5.5%, to $103 million, and sales were off 3.3%, to $736 million. Friedman said the rebound in the second quarter made her feel more confident that ?we?re going to be okay? in fiscal 2008. |
| Source: Publishers Weekly |
