Hachette UK sales up 11% in 2016; US down 4.2%

Hachette UK revenue was up 11% in 2016, with the growth credited with driving parent company Lagardère’s publishing division revenue up 2.5% on the previous year, reports the Bookseller.

Little, Brown’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them helped offset the full-year impact of the publisher’s return to an agency agreement on ebooks. Lagardère Publishing’s overall revenue grew to a total of €2.26bn (A$3.2bn) in 2016, up from €2.20bn (A$3.1bn) in 2015, with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) up €10m (A$14.1m) to €208m (A$293m).

Ebook sales contributed to eight percent of Lagardère Publishing’s overall revenue in 2016, down from nine percent in 2015.

Publishers Weekly reports that sales at Hachette US fell 4.2% in 2016 (excluding Perseus), due to a weaker publishing schedule, particularly in the fourth quarter, where revenue fell by 12.5%.

Hachette’s integration of the Perseus publishing division into its operations added about US$75m (A$100m) in revenue.

Category: International news