Revenue in the third quarter ended September 30 at the publishing operations of Lagardère, parent company of Hachette Book Group, rose 5.9%, to €811 million (about $950 million). For the year to date, revenues are up 4.1%. Overall Lagardère revenue, including Lagardère Travel and Lagardère Live, rose 5.4%, to €2.548 billion (about $2.98 billion), in the third quarter.
Arnaud Lagardère, chairman and CEO of Lagardère, said that Lagardère Publishing has "confirmed its leading positions in each of its geographic areas, with exceptional growth buoyed by a number of bestsellers in the general literature segment and our ongoing and successful diversification drive."
At Hachette Book Group, comparable third-quarter revenues rose 6% while total revenues, including Union Square results, rose 12.5%. Year-to-date sales, including Union Square, are up 9.1%, and up 1.8% on a comparable-sales basis.
Calling the results "fantastic," HBG CEO David Shelley said, "We're proud in 2025 to have moved from number 4 to become the nation's number 3 publisher as measured by Circana BookScan, a position we last held in 2012."
Shelley said third-quarter bestsellers included The Idaho Four by James Patterson and Vicky Ward (Little, Brown), Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Little, Brown for Young Readers), Circle of Days by Ken Follett (Grand Central), The Hamptons Lawyer by James Patterson and Mike Lupica (Little, Brown), The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand and Shelby Cunningham (Little, Brown), The Biblio Diet by Dr Jordan Rubin and Josh Axe (Hachette Nashville), and Softly, As I Leave You by Priscilla Presley (Grand Central).
Key titles in the fourth quarter include Brimstone by Callie Hart (Grand Central), Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben's Gone Before Goodbye (Grand Central), Ozzy Osbourne's Last Rites (Grand Central), Stephanie Burt's Taylor's Version (Basic Books), and Return of the Spider by James Patterson (Little, Brown).
In September, Shelley added, the company hosted its inaugural Changing the Story Festival, an in-person and virtual all-staff festival dedicated to honoring and advancing HBG's commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, HBG was again a sponsor of the Latinx Storytellers Conference, partnered with Her Agenda and HBG's Women in Publishing employee resource group for the in-person and live-streamed event called Off the Page: The Women Changing Publishing & Media. Also, Legacy Lit launched the Blackademics Author Talk Series: The State of Black Education.