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Lagardère Pubishing saw a 6.5% decline in revenues for the first quarter of 2010, with sales down from €30m to €433m for the period to end-March 2010 after what it described as "the expected erosion in Stephenie Meyer sales".
Hachette UK said its sales had been "strong" in the first quarter of 2010, with underlying sales across HUK up on 2009 and "considerably ahead of expectation". This was despite continuing international economic uncertainty, and a fall of 6% in the overall UK market. Hachette UK added that "inevitably, sales of Stephenie Meyer’s backlist have steadied after their phenomenal performance in 2010".
Parent group Lagardere said the drop in sales of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga to one-quarter of the levels of 2009 had what the group described as "a marked impact on the revenue trends, not only in the United States, but also in France and the United Kingdom".
But the French corporation stressed 2010's results were up 7.4% on 2008, claiming this was "a remarkable performance once the impact of the decline in Stephenie Meyer sales is stripped out". It added that e-book sales were "buoyant", accounting for roughly 8% of first quarter revenues in the US, and that four of the eight bestsellers available on the iPad - by David Baldacci, Scott Turow, James Patterson and Malcolm Gladwell - were produced by Lagardère Publishing.
Arnaud Lagardère said: "Thanks to the diversity of our business mix and the strength of our brands, we have been able to take advantage of the first signs of recovery, as our 2010 first-quarter revenue figures show. Despite an unstable economic climate, current trends are encouraging. If they are confirmed over the coming months, we do not rule out revising our 2010 full-year guidance upwards."
Looking ahead, Lagardère said the announcement of Meyer's fifth volume in the Twilight saga - The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner: An Eclipse Novella - was "good news". The company added: "The current pace of growth in digital books - in particular with the arrival of the iPad - could also have a very slightly positive effect on 2010 full-year recurring EBIT [earnings before interest and tax] before associates."
Lagardère's publishing arm was down proportionately more than the group as a whole, which saw a 1.5% drop in revenues, or 3.1% on a like-for-like basis. The publishing arm was only one of two divisions to have registered a drop, but the biggest decline group-wide came from Lagardère Sports, which fell 32.5%.