In the third quarter ended February 28, revenues at Scholastic rose 3.6%, to $335.4 million, and the net loss was $3.6 million compared to a net loss of $26.5 million in the same quarter a year earlier.
Peter Warwick, president and CEO, said that "Scholastic achieved modest revenue growth and improved operating results in the third quarter. Despite increasing pressure on family and school spending on books and educational materials, strong performance by School Book Fairs and Clubs, successful new titles and the addition of 9 Story Media Group contributed to positive results."
He lauded some of the company's "global children's franchises," including Dav Pilkey's Dog Man series whose 13th title, Dog Man: Big Jim Begins, was "the top-selling book in the U.S. and major English-speaking markets since its release in early December," and Sunrise on the Reaping, the fifth book in Suzanne Collins's Hunger Game series, "which is already topping some bestseller lists based on pre-orders" and will help fourth-quarter results. In the third quarter, backlist sales were lower "as increasing pressure on consumer spending led to softness in the retail book market."
In other areas, book fairs revenues rose 7.8%, to $110.7 million, book clubs revenues rose 14.3%, to $15.2 million, consolidated trade revenues rose 0.4%, to $77.4 million, and international revenues rose 0.3%, to $59.3 million (excluding unfavorable exchange rates, international revenues rose 5%).
Scholastic lowered its forecast for full-year growth to "modest" from the earlier prediction of 4%-6% growth.