About Lagardère
Message from Arnaud Lagardère
Main brands by geographic area
French partnership limited by shares
Appointments, Remuneration and Governance Committee
Insider Charter
Full-Year Results
First-Half results
Changes in Accountancy Standards
Lagardère stock price
Identification sheet
Divisions publications
AMF filings
Becoming a shareholder
How to participate in Annual Shareholders' Meetings
Shareholders' Consultative Committee
Why choose Lagardère
CSR at Lagardère
The Group's strategic priorities
Stakeholder map
2018 Key figures
A year without curriculum reform
In a global publishing market characterised by a 0.9% decline in France, a 2.1% rise in Spain and the continuation of growth dating back several years in the United States (up 1.3%), the United Kingdom (up 2.1%), Australia (up 9.9%) and Ireland (up 6.5%), Lagardère Publishing delivered revenue of €2,252 million (including acquisitions), down 1.2% on a like-for-like basis compared with 2017. Recurring operating profit (recurring EBIT) moved down 9.7% to €190.1 million.
Stellar performances by Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK in General Literature were not sufficient to offset the full loss of revenue attributable to the absence of curriculum reform in France and Spain, and to a lesser extent in the United Kingdom.
In 2018, HBG placed 166 titles on The New York Times bestseller list, 32 of which made it to number one, while 114 Hachette UK titles appeared on The Sunday Times bestsellers lists, 15 of which reaching the top spot. Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK have market share of 5.8% (up 0.6%) and 12.6% (up 3.1%), respectively 1.
In France, the General Literature publishing houses reaped the Médicis, Médicis Étranger and Renaudot Essai prizes, while Guillaume Musso's La Jeune Fille et la Nuit (Calmann-Lévy) sold 700,000 copies - a record for the author. Fayard also published three of the four best end-of-year sales in the essays and documents category: Qu'est-ce qu'un Chef ?, by Pierre de Villiers; Idiss, by Robert Badinter; and Becoming, by Michelle Obama.
In Spain, the textbook market suffered from changes in national and regional governments, calling into question existing policies and reducing short-term visibility.
With 80 launches in 30 countries and 15 languages, Lagardère Publishing has become the world's leading publisher of Partworks, thanks largely to successes in France, Italy and Brazil.
Lastly, the new Hachette UK distribution centre in Didcot (Oxfordshire), the largest and most modern in the United Kingdom, has replaced the Littlehampton Book Services (LBS) and Bookpoint centres, resulting in substantial gains through economies of scale and streamlining. In France and the United States, distribution contracts linking Hachette Livre with leading partner publishers were renewed as they expired.
Digital: a springboard for audiobooks
While sales of e-books stabilised in the United States and rose in the United Kingdom and in France, digital audiobooks logged a third year of spectacular growth above 30%. Their success gathered pace as titles initially available on CD became available for download on smartphones, allowing pretty much anyone to listen to professional actors read a book while waiting at an airport, during a daily car or train trip, or when working out.
To meet demand, Hachette Book Group has opened a third recording studio in its New York offices.
The proportion of digital activities grew year on year, accounting for 10.6% of Lagardère Publishing's revenue in 2018.
(1)Source : Source: publisher.
Going crazy at Christmas in the United States
Far from dying out, as was predicted not long ago, printed books are doing so well in the United States that printers can't keep up! With the hardcover market overheating (growth of 3.5%), publishers are having to battle to secure their reprints.
The group's key figures
2018: solid growth illustrated by a strong operating and financial performance.
Go to key figures
Interactive Annual Report - Year 2018
The Group's brands
All companies and brand
E-mail alert|
Order a publication|
Websites|
Credits|