Springer Nature looks to raise €1.2bn in IPO

After wresting the crown from longtime #1 Pearson in 2018, STM, business, and legal publisher RELX Group (formerly Reed Elsevier) remained the world’s largest publisher last year, with revenue of $5.64 billion, according to Livres Hebdo and Publishers Weekly’s annual ranking. The only change in the top 10 in 2019 was in the second and third spots, where Thomson Reuters, with a 3% increase in revenue to $5.28 billion, overtook Pearson and moved into second place. Sluggish higher education sales and restructuring efforts aimed at making the company more streamlined resulted in another year of revenue decline at Pearson, but it managed to hold on to third place, with sales of $5.09 billion. The other top 10 publishers in 2019 are in the same positions they held in 2018’s global ranking. Companies focused on the professional and educational markets took six of the top 10 spots, with the more trade-oriented publishers occupying the other four slots. Revenue last year was basically flat in Bertelsmann’s book publishing segments, which include both the world’s largest trade publisher, Penguin Random House, and the company’s small but growing education division. Bertelsmann was the #4 publisher in 2019.

*Total revenue was $141.6 billion, up 2.4%, negatively affected by $5.0 billion due to divestitures. *Walmart U.S. Q1 comp sales1 grew 3.0% and 9.0% on a two-year stack. *Walmart U.S. eCommerce sales grew 1% or 38% on a two-year stack. *Sam’s Club comp sales1 increased 10.2%, and 17.4% on a two-year stack. Membership income increased 10.5%. *Walmart International net sales were $23.8 billion, a decrease of $3.5 billion, or 13.0%, negatively affected by $5.0 billion due to divestitures. *Consolidated operating income was $5.3 billion, a decrease of 23.0%, negatively affected by $0.3 billion from divestitures.

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