Hachette Book Sales Up 15% in Q4, Down .3% in 2015

By Dianna Dilworth 

Hachette Book Group has reported that net sales were up 15 percent during Q4 2015, as compared to the same quarter in 2014.

The company’s full year revenue were down .3 percent as  from 2014, with strong print sales offsetting the decline in ebook sales. HBG’s annual sales accounted for 25 percent of Hachette Livre’s overall sales in 2015, compared to 24 percent in 2014. Hachette Livre (Lagardère Publishing) reported a $222 million profit, up $112 million or .5 percent. The division delivered made up 49.6 percent of Lagardère’s overall EBIT in 2015.

Following an industry-wide drop off in e-book sales, the group’s digital sales, which includes e-books and downloadable audio, represented 22 percent of the group’s business in 2015 down from 26 percent in 2014.