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Hachette Book Group Reports Strong Third Quarter Performance

Hachette Book Group (HBG), the U.S. division of Lagardère Publishing, has seen a significant boost in sales during the third quarter of 2024, according to company officials in their latest earnings report. This positive growth has been largely driven by the release of a new novel by renowned author Malcolm Gladwell, titled Revenge of the Tipping Point, alongside robust performance from the backlist sales of Freida McFadden’s popular work, The Housemaid. There has also been a noteworthy increase in sales within the children’s and young adult categories, particularly highlighted by strong sales of Peter Brown’s The Wild Robot series.

In addition to strong title performances, HBG’s growth in digital sales played a pivotal role in the quarter’s success. Lagardère highlighted that increases in e-book and digital audio sales helped to elevate e-books’ contribution to overall revenue to 10.2% of total sales, an increase from 9% a year earlier. Likewise, digital audio sales have risen to account for 5.9% of sales, compared to 4.1% in the previous year’s third quarter.

Across the Atlantic, the U.K. division also experienced a modest revenue rise, particularly driven by strong sales momentum in the General Literature category, which featured popular authors such as Rebecca Yarros, Ana Huang, and Freida McFadden. Sales were robust across both new releases and enduring favorites, spanning multiple formats.

These latest figures follow a preceding announcement in July, which reported substantial gains in both sales and profits for HBG in the second quarter of 2024.

While the overall sales performance presents a mixed picture, with a slight decline to €765 million in the third quarter compared to €767 million in the same period in 2023, the company did see a 3% increase in revenue for the year-to-date, accumulating to €2.07 billion by the end of September.

The quarterly results also brought news of a leadership change; Jean-Christophe Thiery has been appointed as the deputy CEO of the Hachette Livre group, taking over the role from Stéphanie Ferran, following recommendations from chairman and CEO Arnaud Lagardère.

Source
www.publishersweekly.com