PRH 2023 results flat, despite revenue rise

While Penguin Random House (PRH) recorded a 7% revenue rise worldwide for the full year 2023—to €4.53 billion (A$7.51b), up from €4.22 billion (A$7.00b) in 2022—profit dropped slightly, down by 0.3% to €664 million (A$1.101b), from €666m in 2022, reports the Bookseller.

In a letter to staff, PRH CEO Nihar Malaviya singled out Spare by Prince Harry as ‘one particular publication that we can be proud of globally’, also mentioning Wifedom by Anna Funder among bestsellers for the company around the world, alongside Murtagh by Christopher Paolini, Atlas by Lucinda Riley, and the latest book from Isabel Allende, El Viento Conoce Mi Nombre.

Malaviya said the company’s flat profits were ‘due to the ongoing increases in many of our costs’, while parent company Bertelsmann said the wider business had benefited from revenue growth in its book publishing, music and education businesses, but had seen declining revenues from television advertising. Bertelsmann’s revenues were flat across its operations compared to 2022 at €20.2 billion (A$33.5b) in both years, recording a 0.4% overall decline.

PRH acquired 10 publishers in 2023, ‘including a majority stake in US publisher Sourcebooks, as well as Tulipan Verlag in Germany, Roca Editorial in Spain, Quadrille in the UK, Playaway and Callisto in the US, and Hay House in several countries,’ said the Bookseller. Said Malaviya: ‘These publishers decided to join us because we respect—and encourage—their independence while providing them with the best resources and an incredible platform for their books to reach even more readers globally.’

Category: International news