Penguin
Penguin is one of the most famous brands in book publishing, known around the world for the quality of its publishing and its consistent record of innovation. Over the past five years, Penguin's sales have increased at an average rate of 2% and profits at 5% – the result of a plan to generate significant margin improvement.
Overview
That plan has four major parts:
1. Investing consistently and in a disciplined way in author and product development;
2. Developing a globally co-ordinated publishing organisation, benefiting from worldwide scale and rapid rates of growth in literacy, education and demand for books in emerging markets;
3. Innovating with digital technologies to provide new reading experiences, new ways to market, new sales channels, and more efficient means of production, storage and distribution of content;
4. Becoming a more efficient organisation, focusing on margin progression, working capital discipline and cash generation. In 2009, Penguin successfully implemented a series of organisational changes in the UK designed to strengthen its publishing, reduce costs and accelerate the transition to digital production, sales channels and formats, and to lower cost markets for design and production. Penguin's 2009 results include approximately £9m of charges relating to these organisational changes.
Penguin operates in 15 countries across the globe and has significant exposure to a wide range of currencies including the US and Australian dollars. In 2009, currency translation boosted revenues by £109m and adjusted operating profits by £13m compared to 2008. Adjusted operating profits were reduced by a transaction exchange loss of £6m.
Looking ahead, Penguin's strategy involves further investment in publishing in both established and emerging markets, in continued digital innovation and in efficiency improvements, as it seeks to build on its strong competitive position and accelerate sales growth.
Penguin Group: Key performance indicators
| £ millions | 2009 | 2008 | Headline growth | CER growth | Underlying growth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales | 1,002 | 903 | 11% | (1)% | (2)% |
| Adjusted operating profit | 84 | 93 | (10)% | (17)% | (19)% |
US bestsellers
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The number of Penguin books entering the Top Ten bestseller lists in the US (New York Times).
UK bestsellers
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The number of Penguin books entering the Top Ten bestseller lists in the UK (Neilson BookScan Top Ten).
eBook sales
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Penguin global eBook sales as a percentage of Penguin Group net sales.
Penguin Highlights in 2009 include:
ebooks
eBook sales grew fourfold on the previous year. 14,000 eBook titles are now available. eBook sales are expected to grow rapidly in 2010, benefiting from the popularity of e-readers such as Amazon's Kindle, the Sony Reader and Barnes and Noble's nook as well as new devices such as Apple's iPad.
2009 bestsellers
In the US, Penguin had 30 #1 New York Times bestsellers, Penguin's most ever, and placed 243 bestsellers on New York Times lists. Bestsellers included debut novels such as Kathryn Stockett's The Help and Janice Y.K. Lee's The Piano Teacher, along with books by established authors such as Charlaine Harris and Nora Roberts.
In the UK, top-selling titles included Marian Keyes' This Charming Man, Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers, Ant and Dec's Ooh! What a Lovely Pair and Antony Beevor's D-Day. Penguin Children's list had a very strong year with standout performances from brands such as The Very Hungry Caterpillar (which celebrated its 40th anniversary) and Peppa Pig. Through an iPhone app, consumers were offered a try-before-you-buy model of Paul Hoffman's The Left Hand of God, providing free downloads of the first three chapters.
In Australia, Penguin was named Publisher of the Year for the second year running at the Australian Book Industry Awards. #1 bestselling authors included Bryce Courtenay, Tom Winton, Clive Cussler and Richelle Mead.
In Canada, top-selling local authors included Joseph Boyden and Alice Munro, who was awarded the International Man Booker prize, and our international authors Greg Mortenson and Elizabeth Gilbert led the paperback non-fiction category.
In India, Penguin is the largest English language trade publisher, with bestselling authors in 2009 including Narayana Murthy and Nandan Nilekani.
In South Africa, top-selling Penguin authors included John van de Ruit and Justin Bonello.
2010 highlights
In 2010, Penguin will publish major books including Our Kind of Traitor by John le Carre, two books from chef Jamie Oliver (Jamie Does and 20 Minute Meals), A Passion for Design by Barbra Streisand, The Weekend That Changed Wall Street by CNBC's Maria Bartiromo, and a new series of paperbacks entitled Penguin Decades as part of Penguin's 75th birthday celebration. Penguin China's English language publishing programme will launch in 2010, with books including Shanghai: A History in Photographs 1842 – Today.
