S&S sees second quarter rise in revenue and profit

Worldwide revenues at Simon & Schuster hit $218m in the second quarter, up $11m compared to the same period last year, a new earnings statement by parent firm CBS shows.

The company said higher print book and digital audio sales, along with the success of Howard Stern Comes Again by Howard Stern and The Pioneers by David McCullough had led to the 5% increase.

Operating income for the three-month period up to 30th June 2019 was also up 6% from the prior year to $33m, the report showed. UK figures were not disclosed separately.

C.e.o. Carolyn Reidy told Publishers Marketplace that the children’s division had seen the biggest growth with “a lot of very strong titles”.

Digital audio increased by 14% in the quarter and there was also a trend-bucking bump in e-book sales, up 2.5%, she said, with movie tie-in After singled out for praise.  

For the first half of 2019, publishing revenue was up from $367m to $382m and operating income increased to $50m from $47m in the same period last year, the report showed.

In February, it was revealed the publisher’s revenues had dropped slightly for the 2018 financial year of 2018 to $825m from $830m, due to lower print sales in the first quarter.

However, UK c.e.o. Ian Chapman then said 2018 had been “solid” on this side of the Atlantic and things looked good for the coming year. He told The Bookseller at the time: “We've had a buoyant start to 2019, our fiction revenues are up 30% and we are feeling ambitious despite a challenging retail environment. We have brand authors doing exciting new things such as Philippa Gregory and Nicci French, as well as more from Louise Candlish. Our non-fiction list is arguably even stronger than 2018 with a varied and commercial autumn programme coming together.”