Positive actions, winning titles make 2001 best ever year for children’s publisher.
Egmont Books UK has reported significant sales improvements in 2001, coupled with a massive increase in profits, justifying the management’s confidence in the restructured company. These results – the best ever for the children’s publisher - were achieved through positive actions taken over the past 18 months to streamline the structure and lay foundations for growth and success.
Egmont Books, the book publishing arm of Egmont UK, reported sales up 16% on 2000 to £25.4 million (£21.9 million), with operating profits up 164% at £1.2 million (£456,000). This represents a dramatic change from 2000, when profits were hit by the costs of merging Egmont Children’s Books and Egmont World into a single entity. The company has benefited from improved efficiency and restored focus since the merger, producing a number of critical and sales successes. 25 Egmont titles featured in BookTrack’s top 50 children’s bestsellers and Egmont maintained its position as number 2 children’s publisher by volume and joint number 3 by value.
“During the second half of 2000 and the early part of 2001, we completely reengineered the company to generate more value, so that we now have a solid profit base and can look forward positively to 2002 and beyond,” said Egmont Books managing director, Susannah McFarlane. “We have streamlined the structure to make us more efficient and effective and our strong publishing programme created a great buzz. We have been very encouraged by the number of authors who are expressing interest in joining our lists, much of which must be down to the passion and professionalism displayed by our editorial teams.”
Much of Egmont’s success can be attributed to the strong publishing lists, which included critical and sales winners across all genres. Jamila Gavin’s Coram Boy got the year off to a good start by winning the Whitbread Children’s Book of the Year Award. William Nicholson’s Wind on Fire trilogy, with The Wind Singer named Blue Peter’s Best Book of 2001, was followed by the phenomenal success of A Series of Unfortunate Events, making Lemony Snicket number 20 bestselling children’s author.
“We have paid a great deal of attention to effective marketing,” said Susannah, “going far beyond the dump bin to create complete tailored campaigns like that for A Series of Unfortunate Events, which included TV, microsite and guerrilla marketing.” The fresh approach developed for these titles gave a dramatic boost to sales and the range was named Best New Product by WH Smith.
Home sales were 23% up on last year, with UK trade sales much stronger and supermarket sales an increasingly important channel. Export continues to be a focus area, with core markets including Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Northern Europe, as well as the US. The complexity and diversity of the range is a key strength.
Above all, Egmont has been turned around by its people. “We are very much a team effort, empowering the people who work for us and attracting good people to come and work at the company.” Training and staff development are at the heart of Egmont’s philosophy and the company spent £1/4 million last year to equip its people for all aspects of the business.
Looking forward, Susannah McFarlane is confident that 2001 was by no means a one-shot good year, as the company has been laying down the foundations for future success by acquiring first class talent and building its lists, as well as continuing to focus on improving its performance delivery to customers. “Tough Stuff was very well received at the London Book Fair, the Love Hearts licence gave us a strong spring season and we are already significantly ahead of budget for 2002. Taken together with ongoing initiatives to improve efficiency, we are now repositioned for continued success.”
For further information, contact Andrea Marks, AMPR, Tel 020-8 958 4398.
