OverDrive: Record Number of Libraries Hit One Million Digital Lends in 2023

A new survey commissioned by Stora Enso in March 2022 among 2,400 book readers and listeners in the UK, France, Germany and the US showed that people still overwhelmingly prefer physical books (65%) to e-books (21%) or audiobooks (14%). And consumers are willing to pay a premium for carbon neutral books. “With the book market strong coming out of the pandemic, our goal with this survey was to gain insights into whether the market would stay that way in a post-pandemic world. And the answer we got was a resounding yes,” says Jonathan Bakewell, VP, Head of Segment Office and Book Papers, Stora Enso.

Total reported sales for the second quarter of 2020 were $2.2 billion, a decrease of 17% compared to the second quarter of 2019. The decrease in revenue was primarily the result of lower sales in the Business Solutions Division (BSD) and CompuCom Division driven by impacts related to the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with lower sales in the Retail Division driven by lower volume and fewer retail stores in service. Product sales in the second quarter were down 15% relative to the prior year period. Service revenue was down 26% in the quarter related to lower comparable sales at CompuCom and sales of service in our BSD and Retail Divisions, all of which were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. On a consolidated basis, service revenue represented approximately 14% of total Company sales in the second quarter of 2020. The Company reported an operating loss of $456 million in the second quarter of 2020, compared to an operating loss of $15 million in the prior year period. GAAP operating results in the second quarter included $466 million of charges including $401 million of non-cash asset impairment charges, and $65 million in merger and restructuring costs. Asset impairment charges of $401 million in the second quarter of 2020 included $363 million related to impairment of goodwill and other intangible assets at CompuCom and in the Company’s contract business combined, largely related to the effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on current businesses conditions. Asset impairment charges also included $25 million related to the impairment of operating lease right-of-use (ROU) assets associated with the Company’s retail store locations, with the remainder primarily relating to the impairment of fixed assets. Merger and restructuring costs of $65 million include $6 million associated with the Business Acceleration Program (“BAP”), $51 million associated with restructuring charges related to the recently announced Maximize B2B Restructuring Plan, and $7 million in merger, acquisition and integration-related expenses.

Costco Wholesale Corporation reported net sales of $16.47 billion for the retail month of October, the four weeks ended October 31, 2021, an increase of 19.2 percent from $13.82 billion last year. For the nine weeks ended October 31, 2021, the Company reported net sales of $35.97 billion, an increase of 17.3 percent from $30.66 billion last year.