News Corp’s revenues from book publishing reached $48 million during the company’s third quarter for fiscal 2015, up 14 percent from the same period last year.
The company attributed the growth to the inclusion of Harlequin in its numbers, as well as strong backlist sales in General Books which included bestseller “American Sniper” by Chris Kyle. Here is more from the earnings release:
Segment EBITDA for the quarter increased $3 million, or 6%, from the prior year, primarily due to the inclusion of the results of Harlequin and lower expenses, partially offset by lower contribution from the Divergent series. Adjusted revenues decreased 5% and Adjusted Segment EBITDA decreased 8% compared to the prior year.
eBook revenues made up 22 percent of consumer revenues for the quarter, according to New Corp’s earnings report. eBook revenues were down 3 percent over the same period last year. The company attributed the drop off to less sales in the Divergent series as well as an increase in non-fiction books, which have less eBook conversions.