Rakuten writes off $96m from Kobo

Kobo parent company Rakuten has revealed a ¥7.8bn (A$96m) write-down on Kobo in its 2015 financial report, reports the Digital Reader. The A$96m ‘goodwill impairment’ on Kobo, which the company purchased in 2011 for US$315m (A$443m), was part of a total ¥38.1bn (A$478m) write-down of its assets. Rakuten also reported that library loans at OverDrive, which it acquired in March 2015, were up 23.5% in the fourth quarter compared to 2014. The Digital Reader notes that in a supplementary document ‘Vision 2020’, the ‘combined EBITA for Kobo and OverDrive will be positive in 2016’, which is ‘a first for Kobo’. Overall, Rakuten posted a 19% growth in revenue on 2014, but net profit fell 38% to ¥44.3bn (A$545m).

Category: International news