'Solid' first half for Scholastic

Scholastic has reported second quarter revenue for the three months to 30th November of $604.7m, up 1% year on year ($598.3m in the second quarter of the prior fiscal year). Operating profit stood at $98.2m, down from $107.2m in the prior year.

The results showed the impact of the new US revenue recognition standard ASC 606, Scholastic said: without its introduction, revenue would have shown an increase of 3% and there would have been an extra $5.6m on the operating profit total.

Net income for the quarter was at $71.6m, up 25% on the prior year ($57.1m), which was partly attributed to a lower effective tax rate.

The second quarter results take Scholastic’s first half revenues, for the six months to 30th November, to $823.1m - up 4.5% from $787.5m in the previous year.

Richard Robinson, Scholastic chairman, president and c.e.o., described the company's quarter and first-half results as "solid", saying they were "keeping us on track to achieve our operating objectives for the fiscal year, although we continue to experience rising product and fulfillment costs similar to other businesses.”

Children's book revenues were up on a "strong" performance in trade, he said, while school clubs and fair channels were "on par" with the previous year. Children's trade saw a second quarter revenue leap of 16% year-on-year, to $95.9m.

Dav Pilkey's Dog Man, the Harry Potter 20th anniversary editions, screenplay Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald and backlist title The Wonky Donkey were picked out as highlights, with The Wonky Donkey selling more than one million copies in October.

In the education division, the second quarter's results were "in line with the Company's expectations".

Scholastic said it expected to achieve its targets for the fiscal year, saying it intended to offset rising costs for production and fulfilment through cost management and pricing.