Penguin Random House worldwide CEO Nihar Malaviya struck a positive note to staff when commenting on the publisher’s results for 2023 which saw a 7% revenue rise worldwide to €4,532m (£3,886m), up from €4,223m in 2022. Profit dipped marginally by 0.3% to €664m (£569.4m), from €666m in 2022.
He singled out one book as being instrumental in the profit increase – Prince Harry’s Spare. “Our revenues were up substantially, driven by many publishing successes—both frontlist and backlist—as well as by various mergers and acquisitions we made across our territories,” he said in a letter to staff. “At the heart of our success are our books. And while every book we publish contributes to our commercial and cultural success, one particular publication that we can be proud of globally is Spare by Prince Harry, which was the bestselling non-fiction book industry-wide in many of our countries. This was a truly global publication that only we at Penguin Random House can make happen.”
Malaviya said profits were at the same level as the previous year “due to ongoing increases in many of our costs”. He commented: “We have taken many actions to combat these increases and to stabilise our cost structure in most of the countries in which we operate. I know that some of these actions were very difficult, and I would like to thank all of you for your hard work as you implemented these changes while continuing to focus on our books and authors during these times. All our initiatives put us on solid footing, and we are now in the best possible position we can be to continue investing in our authors and employees. I am confident about our collective future.”
Looking ahead he concluded: “Books are at the core of our strategy, and I am really excited about our incredible publishing line-up for 2024 and impressed by the creative ways in which teams are approaching the marketplace. I firmly believe that there are many different paths to success in publishing and that together we have created the best environment for various publishing homes and creative visions to thrive. We see this by our internal growth, as new imprints launch and existing imprints expand. Through your invaluable daily efforts, our publishing homes continues to attract and publish the best author talent, including such names as Javier Castillo, Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad, Tommy Orange, Chanette Paul, Salman Rushdie, Vivek Shanbhag, Zadie Smith, Saša Stanišić, Amor Towles, Jeferson Tenório, Liane Moriarty, and Lisa Yee, names that are responsible for many of the past decades’ culture-defining and notable works. Every voice we publish offers readers entertainment, inspiration and a source of truth. By reflecting on past experiences and offering insight into new ones, books have the power to bring us together—a power I think the world needs more of.”
