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By Porter Anderson, Editor in Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also today: The book vending machine “Lit in Colour” from Penguin Random House UK
Malaviya: “We need to invest in both the books and the talent”
ICommenting today (28 August) on its performance in the first half of 2024, German group Bertelsmann – the parent company of Penguin Random House – announced that it had increased its overall international group revenues by 60 percent to 416 million euros (462.7 million US dollars).
An interesting point for our readers from the United States of America: Publish perspectivesBertelsmann reports that between January and June, US business accounted for the largest share of the multinational corporation’s sales for the first time, with an increase of 28.4 percent. Audio books, publishing services and an increase in the number of bestsellers are among the factors contributing to this effect.
As you’ll see in Nihar Malaviya’s memo below, based on unit sales alone, “nearly 35 million more books” were sold in the first half of this year than in the previous year.
Gütersloh comments on the highlights of Penguin Random House, among other things: “In January, Penguin Random House completed the acquisition of Hay House, a leading publisher of wellness and self-help books in the USA, and further increased its stake in the fast-growing US publisher Sourcebooks. In the first half of the year, several authors were honored by Penguin Random House, including Jayne Anne Phillips and Cristina Rivera Garza with the 2024 Pulitzer Prize and Dave Eggers with the 2024 Newbery Medal, the most important annual award for children’s literature in the USA.”
PRH’s stake in Sourcebooks was increased from 53 percent to 75 percent and it is acknowledged that Malaviya’s interest in acquisitions – a topic he discussed in his executive talk at the Publishing Perspectives Forum – contributed to the strong result recognized in the Bertelsmann report today.
Nihar Malaviya, Penguin Random House’s worldwide CEO, issued a memo to staff today on the Bertelsmann report. In his note, he credits part of the company’s success with overcoming the fixation on blockbusters that many midlist authors have complained about. He also points to the company’s acquisition of Hay House, which Bertelsmann made, and which reportedly contributed €35 million ($38.9 million) to PRH’s success.
You also see Malaviya referencing the book-banning activities in the United States – a challenge to which he has responded with energy and innovative action, including filing court motions in important, high-profile cases, including a lawsuit against the state of Iowa.
“As you will see, Penguin Random House saw worldwide revenues increase by €178 million ($197.9 million) year-on-year, while our costs also increased by €145 million ($161.3 million).
“Our investments in our authors and their books increased by 63 million euros (70.1 million US dollars), while our profits increased by 33 million euros (36.7 million US dollars).
“Most importantly, we sold almost 35 million more books in the first half of this year than in the same period last year. This growth was driven by excellent releases across our various businesses and divisions, as well as acquisitions such as Hay House. We can be particularly proud of this, as our strong results are the result of many, many books in our range outselling across multiple categories, rather than the performance of a handful of standout titles.
“We want to continue on this successful path, a path that allows us to invest in both the books and the talent needed for the acquisitions and publications.
“We are very optimistic about the future of our industry. In most of the countries where we operate, the book market remains stable and we are outperforming the entire industry because we employ the best talent in the entire publishing industry. These results show that we at Penguin Random House are uniquely positioned to bring our authors’ books to life better than any other publisher.”
“As I told you at the start of the year, books are more important than ever – from the globally acclaimed works of cultural star Gabriel García Márquez and living legend Salman Rushdie enriching the cultural dialogue, to the successful launch of the global children’s phenomenon Bluey, which underscores our commitment to nurturing the next generation of readers. Their hard work has a profound impact and allows us to continue to invest in the business and, in turn, do even more for free expression, as demonstrated by our industry-leading efforts to fight book bans in the United States.”
Germany’s statement today also predicts higher returns in the future.
Rolf Hellermann, Chief Financial Officer of Bertelsmann, explained in today’s company report: “Bertelsmann continues to expect positive overall business development for the year as a whole. We are raising our group forecast for 2024 and expect a significant increase in revenues and earnings in our continuing operations. Due to the already completed sales of Majorel and the DDV Media Group, we expect a moderate decline in revenues and earnings.”
For more information from Publishing Perspectives on Bertelsmann, click here, for more on Penguin Random House International, click here, and for more on the US market, click here.
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