Bloomsbury Completes acquisition of Red Globe Press

Last week Penguin Random House reported that it had a 23.3% increase in profits in 2020 over 2019 on a 4.6% gain in revenue, capping a remarkable year for America’s five biggest trade publishers that report financial results. Despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic, all five had annual increases in both earnings and sales. Higher sales of e-books and digital audiobooks and solid gains of backlist titles helped drive the revenue and profit gains. Online sales also rose in the year, offsetting soft sales through bookstores due to pandemic-induced lockdowns. According to PRH parent company Bertelsmann, PRH US had a particularly good year and drove the overall gains for the publisher. PRH US accounted for just over 58% of PRH’s total revenue, or roughly $2.59 billion. In 2019, the U.S. represented 56% of PRH revenue (about $2.2 billion).

WBA third quarter sales from continuing operations increased 12.1 percent from the year-ago quarter to $34.0 billion, an increase of 10.4 percent on a constant currency basis1, reflecting strong growth in the International segment, aided by the formation of the company's joint venture in Germany during the fiscal year, and solid growth in the United States segment. Operating income from continuing operations was $1.1 billion in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $1.7 billion in the year-ago quarter, primarily due to $2 billion non-cash impairment charges in the year-ago quarter related to goodwill and intangible assets in Boots UK. Total net earnings attributable to WBA were $1.2 billion compared with a loss of $1.7 billion in the year-ago quarter, reflecting non-cash impairment charges in the previous period, increased operating income in both segments and earnings from the company's equity method investment related to Option Care Health; this was partially offset by a higher effective tax rate driven by discrete items in the year-ago quarter. Total adjusted net earnings in constant currency increased 79.5 percent to $1.3 billion.

Office Depot announced the release of the company’s 12th edition of its Diverse Supplier Catalog. The catalog highlights an assortment of more than 1,500 items ranging from paper and toner, to presentation boards, writing instruments, school supplies, furniture, technology and desk accessories, with more than 700 products also containing eco-attributes or eco-labels.