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Second quarter recovery at HC

05.02.08 Philip Jones

HarperCollins Worldwide saw sales and profits rise in its second quarter ended 31st December, coming off the back of a poor first quarter. Sales rose from $393m to $406m, with operating profit up some $13m to $67m.

Jane Friedman, HC c.e.o., told US trade journal Publishers Weekly that she was "very happy about the recovery". "I thought it would happen, but until it does you hold your breath." The bounce was driven by The Daring Book for Girls, The Dangerous Books for Boys and Deceptively Delicious.

Quarter one saw the group record an operating income drop of $19m to $36m, with turnover down $38m to $330m. The second-quarter improvement did not quite return the business to growth over its half-year, profits for the first half were down $6m to $103 million, with sales down 3.3%, to $736m.

Figures for the UK business are not broken out. Victoria Barnsley, chief executive and publisher of HCUK, said: "We had a good Christmas, with strong sales from a number of titles including Lewis Hamilton's My Story, Provided You Don’t Kiss Me, Bill Bryson's Shakespeare, the Slash autobiography and Gordon Ramsay's Playing With Fire. Our paperbacks also performed well, notably When Daddy Comes Home, PS I Love You and Half of a Yellow Sun."

Financial US HarperCollins Philip Jones jane friedman News Corp

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