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Penguin's e-book sales have doubled in the first quarter of 2011 compared to the same period in 2010, its parent company Pearson revealed in a statement today (28th April).
In its interim management statement covering the first three months of 2011, the statement read: "Penguin continues to benefit from consistently strong publishing and a leading position in digital reading, with e-book sales doubling in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2010."
The company also reiterated the view expressed in its full year results on 28th February, that "we expect Penguin to perform in line with the overall consumer publishing industry this year".
It added that Penguin will continue to "adapt" to the "significant industry change driven by the growth of both digital sales channels and digital books and by the resulting pressures on physical bookstores".
Speaking after the release of the full-year results earlier this year, Penguin UK c.e.o. Tom Weldon predicted that e-books would make up 4% of Penguin sales in 2011, up from 1% on average in 2010. Penguin also announced at that time it was going to treble its investment in digital content in 2011 compared to 2010.
Pearson also reported today strong growth in its education division across digital products and services, citing a 28% increase in US MyLab registrations, to three million.
The statement confirmed Pearson is trading in line with expectations, anticipating growth in 2011. In the first three months of 2011, Pearson increased sales from continuing operations by 10% at constant currencies to £1.03bn, though it said: "The seasonal phasing of our publishing businesses makes the first quarter a very light trading period for Pearson".
Pearson's a.g.m. took place today at 3 p.m., with the company proposing a final dividend of 25.7p per share.