HarperCollins global revenues rise $12m in first quarter

Worldwide revenues at HarperCollins have grown by $12m (£9.13m) to $401m (£305.24m) for the first quarter of 2017, with digital sales increasing 6% due to growth in audiobook sales.

News Corp has filed its results for the first quarter to 30th September 2017, revealing that revenues have increased 3% from $389m (£313m) to $401m (£305.24m) compared with the same period a year earlier, primarily due to the "continued popularity" of Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson, as well as the success of frontlist titles such as Daniel Silva’s House of Spies and Karin Slaughter’s The Good Daughter.

Meanwhile, EBITDA for the quarter increased $2m (£1.52m), or 4%, from the prior year due to the higher revenues from the above titles.

Digital sales increased 6% compared to the prior year and represented 21% of Consumer revenues for the quarter, driven by growth in downloadable audio book sales.

Results for HarperCollins UK were not broken out.

Companywide, the total revenue for News Corp was $2.06bn (£1.57m), up 5% from $1.97bn (£1.5m) for the same period last year. 

Chief executive Robert Thomson said: “In the first quarter, Revenues and Segment EBITDA increased across every segment of our business."

Full year sales for the previous financial year were down 1% ($10m) to $1.634bn, but profits were improved, with an EBITDA of $199m, up from $185m a year earlier.