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Scholastic has reported "very strong" results for the fourth quarter ending 31st May 2010 and the company has made a net income of over $56m for the financial year after making a loss the previous year.
The global children's publisher saw revenues rise to $1,912.9m in the 2010 fiscal year, up 3% from $1,849.3m the year before. It also saw a net income of $56.1m, up considerably from the loss made of $14.3m in the previous year. In the fourth quarter, revenue was $538.4 million, up 9% from the prior year period.
International revenue for the full year was $412m, compared to $399m in the prior year, reflecting a $27.2m positive foreign exchange impact. In local currencies, sales declined in Canada and the UK, but were partly offset by gains in Asia. The declines excluded "one-time expenses" associated with restructuring in the UK of $0.5m. Operating income for the segment increased more than 50% to $38.5m, compared to $24.3m a year ago. This improvement primarily resulted from higher profits in Australia, Canada and Asia, as well as an unfavourable impact of foreign exchange in the prior year.
International revenue for the fourth quarter was $116.8m, compared to $105.6m a year ago. Operating income was $17.8m, increasing over 70% from $10.3m in the prior year, primarily as a result of lower costs in Canada and Australia.
Richard Robinson, chairman, president and chief executive officer, said: "Strong execution of the three elements of our fiscal 2010 plan - driving growth in Scholastic Education, improving efficiencies in Children's Books, and tightly managing costs and cash - contributed to a very strong fourth quarter, enabling Scholastic to beat our targets for earnings and free cash flow growth."
He added: "Having reduced overhead costs, strengthened our core children's book businesses and expanded our educational technology and services business in recent years, we achieved our long-term operating margin goal and further strengthened our balance sheet in fiscal 2010."
Robinson said: "Scholastic's plan for fiscal 2011 is to sustain last year's strong operating income before spending approximately $20 million to invest in Children's Books' key digital opportunities - e-commerce and e-books - reflecting the accelerating change and growth in these areas."