HarperCollins reports revenue up 19%, profit up 42%

HarperCollins has reported a record profit and 19% revenue growth in the 2021 fiscal year, according to parent company News Corp’s annual results.

The publisher reported revenue of US$1.98 billion (A$2.7b) in the year ending 30 June, up US$319 million (A$435m) from the previous year. Acquisitions of a European publisher and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt’s (HMH) Books and Media segment contributed US$32 million (A$44m) and US$23 million (A$31m), respectively, to the revenue growth. Digital sales, which represented 22% of consumer revenues, were up 16%.

EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) was up 42% to US$303 million (A$413m), primarily due to the higher revenues, and partially offset by higher employee costs and the costs associated with the HMH acquisition.

Locally, HarperCollins ANZ CEO Jim Demetriou told Books+Publishing, ‘HarperCollins ANZ had an outstanding year in-line with the business globally and it was topped off by winning the ABIA Book of the Year with Phosphorescence by Julia Baird’.

Internationally, ‘the revenue growth was primarily due to strong backlist sales, including the series of “Bridgerton” titles by Julia Quinn, The Guest List by Lucy Foley and The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy, and the success of new titles such as The Order by Daniel Silva and Code Name Bananas by David Walliams,’ News Corp said.

Category: International news