Penguin's e-book sales double

03.11.11 | Graeme Neill - The Bookseller

Penguin's e-book sales have more than doubled in the first nine months of 2011, as parent Pearson reported an increase in total sales of 3% and operating profit of 13%.
Total sales at Penguin for the nine months to 30th September were flat but the publisher said it offset the decline in physical sales with "strong publishing and the continued rise of e-book sales". It highlighted authors such as Jamie Oliver, Lee Evans, Rob Brydon and Jeff Kinney as its UK highlights for the fourth quarter.
At Pearson Education total sales were up 4% and by 1% on an underlying basis. Across Pearson's total business, sales were up 1% on an underlying basis and up 6% when adjusted for constant exchange rates.
Pearson's chief executive Marjorie Scardino said: "The world economy is neither simple nor helpful this year, but we are producing another good year for Pearson. Our mix of markets and services, as well as our ability to invest and to implement, has given us competitive strength that makes us confident of that. We can't count on the trading environment to get any easier any time soon, but we do expect our durability and our innovation to continue to help us succeed."
In the wake of the results, Pearson anticipated its earnings per share would be 83p, up from 80p.

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