Print Unit Sales Fell 5.5% Last Week (publishersweekly.com)

Double-digit gains in the adult categories helped boost print unit sales 8.7% in the week ended Nov. 28, 2020, over the comparable week in 2019, at outlets that report to NPD BookScan. Print unit sales jumped 22.2% over the week ended Nov. 30, 2019, in the adult nonfiction category, led by Barack Obama’s A Promised Land, which sold about 410,000 copies in its second week. The top new title in the category was Modern Warriors by Pete Hegseth, which sold more than 30,000 copies. Three new releases contributed to the 13.5% increase in unit sales in the adult fiction category: Ready Player Two by Ernest Cline was #1, selling 99,000 copies; next was Deadly Cross by James Patterson, which sold more than 42,000 copies, followed by The Awakening by Nora Roberts, which sold a little more than 27,000 copies. Print units increased 29.1% over 2019 in the YA category.

First Quarter of Fiscal 2024 Compared to First Quarter of Fiscal 2023 *Net sales increased 3.5% to $2.7 billion compared to $2.6 billion, primarily due to increased comparable sales, new store contribution, and growth in other revenue. *Comparable sales (sales for stores open at least 14 months and e-commerce sales) increased 1.6% compared to the first quarter of fiscal 2023, driven by a 1.3% increase in transactions and a 0.3% increase in average ticket. *Gross profit increased 1.4% to $1.07 billion compared to $1.05 billion. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit decreased to 39.2% compared to 40.0%, primarily due to lower merchandise margins and higher inventory shrink, partially offset by growth in other revenue. *Operating income was $400.9 million, or 14.7% of net sales, compared to $442.1 million, or 16.8% of net sales.

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc announces that it has signed a sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of certain assets of Red Globe Press (“RGP”), the academic imprint, from Macmillan Education Limited, a part of Springer Nature Group. The consideration is £3.7 million, of which £2.1 million will be satisfied in cash at completion and up to £1.6 million will be paid on or post-completion, subject to assignment of certain contracts. RGP specialises in high-quality publishing for Higher Education students globally in Humanities and Social Sciences, Business and Management, and Study Skills. RGP has a backlist of more than 7,000 titles and publishes more than 100 new titles per year, with content including digital platforms, textbooks, research-driven materials and general academic publishing. The acquired RGP titles are a good strategic fit, strengthen Bloomsbury’s existing academic publishing, and establish new areas of academic publishing in Business and Management, Study Skills and Psychology. RGP’s three digital products will be migrated to Bloomsbury Digital Resources’ own platform and its content added to Bloomsbury Collections. The business will operate within Bloomsbury’s Academic and Professional division.