You are viewing your 1 free article this month. Login to read more articles.
Scholastic Inc saw revenues and operating profit increase in the second quarter of the year thanks to strong sales of its Harry Potter publishing in the US and Canada.
Revenues in the period ending 30th November rose 3.5% to $623.1m (£499.8m) compared to the same period of last year, whilst operating profit increased 6% to $111.4m (£89.4m).
The company said the growth was due mainly to Harry Potter sales in the US and Canada, where it publishes the screenplay of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and all the Harry Potter novels.
"Our trade publishing had exceptionally good performance in the second quarter, with a number of best-selling frontlist titles and a great deal of excitement for our new Harry Potter releases, including the original screenplay book for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets: The Illustrated Edition, as well as stronger children's book results in our international major markets," said chairman, president and c.e.o. Richard Robinson.
The trade division saw revenues grow 60% to $98.5m (£79m) on the back of Harry Potter, as well as new releases such as Dog Man by Dav Pilkey and Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier. Sales from book fairs declined in total because of a decision to reduce the number of fairs held in the quarter, and revenue per fair was up 7%.
In the international division, sales grew 3% to $119.5m (£95.9m), thanks to sales of Harry Potter in Canada, whilst educational revenues fell 2% to $71.1m (£57m) because of lower sales of consumer magazines and library products.
Looking forward to 2017, the company said it expects annual revenues of $1.7-1.8bn (around £1.4bn).