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Simon & Schuster UK managing director Ian Chapman has said that sales were below expectation and profits were in line after its US parent reported a 20% decline in sales and an operating loss.
Chapman refused to discuss sales or profit figures but said he was pleased with the quarter. He said: "The reason for that is we have managed to control our costs structure . . . We have been really careful about our financial expenditure on just about every level." He added: "The consumer is a very nervous person indeed. We are concerned about the depressed level of spending across the marketplace. One doesn't know what will happen next."
However, Chapman added that he was pleased with the success of titles including The Secret Speech, Nearlyweds and Vampirates.
Sales at the US business declined 19.8% to $161.7m in the quarter to end-March 2009, and the publishing house reported an operating loss of $2.1m compared to operating income of $14.6m over the same period last year.