Home 5 News 5 Pandemic Impact: HarperCollins Sees Decline in Book Sales

Pandemic Impact: HarperCollins Sees Decline in Book Sales

by | Aug 15, 2023 | News

HarperCollins has partly blamed the bursting of the pandemic bubble for a 10% decline in global book sales.  In results for the financial year ending 30 June 2023 posted by parent company News Corp, HarperCollins’ revenues stood at $1.98bn (£1.56bn), compared to $2.19bn (£1.73bn) in 2022.  For the three months ending 30 June 2023 (fourth quarter), revenues stood at $446m (£351m), down 13% from $513m (£404m).  Profits were down 45%.

CEO Brian Murray in part blames the bubble in book sales that was one of the unexpected consequences of the covid pandemic.  He pointed out that many accounts over ordered which in turn led to over-printing by publishers.  There was a decline in consumer book buying once the various lockdowns were over and consumers had other distractions.

Murray told Publishers Weekly that results in the third quarter ended this March showed some improvement, but the fourth was a disappointment when profits tumbled 66%. “I thought we could work through things in six months, but it looks like it took a full year,” Murray said, noting that orders from the majority of accounts were down throughout fiscal 2023 and that the plunge in profits in the fourth quarter was due in part to heavy returns.

He was encouraged that while industry sales are down in 2023 from last year, they are still ahead of 2019, and he noted while North America was down, results were up in the UK, Spain, Germany, Brazil, and India. “North America had the biggest pandemic bubble and it had the biggest burst,” he said.

In conclusion, he added: “I think the industry is finding its equilibrium.  It was a challenging year.  The numbers don’t paint a rosy picture.  [But now] I’m feeling better about things.”

 

Recent News

17Jul
Penguin Supports Winn Amid Controversy

Penguin Supports Winn Amid Controversy

Penguin said release date of On Winter Hill would be changed in order to ‘support the author’ after allegations that Raynor Winn lied in her bestselling memoir. Author Raynor Winn’s new book has been delayed because questions about her bestselling work The Salt Path have caused her and her husband “considerable distress”, her publisher has […]

17Jul
Farshore  Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

Farshore Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

HarperCollins’ children’s imprint Farshore has acquired The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales from the Wind in the Willows by award-winning children’s author M. G. Leonard. The book of exciting spin-off stories from the much-loved classic The Wind in the Willows, written by Kenneth Grahame and illustrated by E.H. Shepard, will publish in March […]

16Jul
Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Publishing veteran Kate Parkin, who worked for Random House and was most recently MD of the adult publishing division at Bonnier Books UK, is launching a new independent publishing house, Firefinch.  It is a co-venture with her Bonnier colleague Margaret Stead who was Bonnier publisher. Among the authors who are making the jump with them […]

Related Posts

Farshore  Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

Farshore Revives ‘Portly the Otter’

HarperCollins’ children’s imprint Farshore has acquired The Adventures of Portly the Otter: Untold Tales from the Wind in the Willows by award-winning children’s author M. G. Leonard. The book of exciting spin-off stories from the much-loved classic The Wind in the...

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Firefinch to Debut in 2026 with Star Authors

Publishing veteran Kate Parkin, who worked for Random House and was most recently MD of the adult publishing division at Bonnier Books UK, is launching a new independent publishing house, Firefinch.  It is a co-venture with her Bonnier colleague Margaret Stead who was...

Al Faya: Where History Took Its First Steps on the Sands of the Desert

Al Faya: Where History Took Its First Steps on the Sands of the Desert

In a timeless moment etched into the memory of human heritage, the sun of Sharjah rose once again on the map of the world, this time through the gateway of deep history. At its recently concluded 47th session in Paris, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee officially...

Previous Next
Close
Test Caption
Test Description goes like this