Quarto revenue drops 7% in 2022

In the UK, the Quarto Group reported a 7% drop in revenue for the year ending 31 December, reports the Bookseller.

Despite revenue falling from £122.5 million (A$224m) in 2021 to UK$114m (A$208m) in 2022, adjusted operating profit improved 33% from £12.9m (A$23.6m) in 2021 to £17.2m (A$31.5m) in 2022. The improved profitability was attributed to ‘nimble publishing maximising opportunities which arose, strong cost-control and reduced finance costs’.

Locally, sales to Australia dropped by 7%. Sales to China dropped 34%, while sales to Europe held steady.

Highlights from Quarto’s year included a new range of books for McDonald’s Happy Meals based on the Little People, Big Dreams series by Maria Isabel Sánchez Vegara; strong growth in the manga and anime market; a range of graphic novels produced in partnership with Saturday AM; and the continued strong performance of Beautiful Boards: 50 amazing snack boards for any occasion, which has sold over 200,000 copies.

Of the company’s revenue, about 69% is derived from adult titles and 31% is from children’s. New books comprised 42% of total sales, while the backlist ‘continues to deliver strong sales’ at 58% of revenue. Group CEO Alison Goff said that in 2022, “we saw a return to buying in physical bookstores, with a corresponding reduction in our online sales”.

‘With the economic pressures squeezing consumer spending, the overall book market contracted slightly in 2022 with nonfiction sales showing one of the biggest declines, down by 7%,’ Goff said.

Category: International news