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Revenue for Penguin Random House globally in 2023 rose 7.3%, to €4.5 billion (about $4.92 billion), while operating EBITDA was essentially flat, down 0.3%, to €664 million ($720 million), parent company Bertelsmann reported. Overall, Bertelsmann revenue in 2023 slipped 0.4%, to €20.2 billion ($21.9 billion), while group profit rose 18.2%, to €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion).
In the overview of its many operations, Bertelsmann said that one of the year's biggest bestsellers was PRH's Spare by Prince Harry, which sold more than three million copies in the U.S. and six million copies worldwide by PRH and affiliated publishers. It also noted that during 2023 PRH had increased its stake in Sourcebooks to 53% and acquired the publishing assets of Callisto Media, "both among the fastest-growing publishers in the U.S."
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| Nihar Malaviya | |
In a letter to PRH employees worldwide, CEO Nihar Malaviya observed that "revenues were up substantially, driven by many publishing successes--both frontlist and backlist--as well as by various mergers and acquisitions we made across our territories. At the heart of our success are our books." He called Spare "a truly global publication."
Malaviya said that profits were flat because of "the ongoing increases in many of our costs. We have taken many actions to combat these increases and to stabilize our cost structure in most of the countries in which we operate. I know that some of these actions were very difficult, and I would like to thank all of you for your hard work as you implemented these changes while continuing to focus on our books and authors during these times. All our initiatives put us on solid footing, and we are now in the best possible position we can be to continue investing in our authors and employees. I am confident about our collective future."
He continued: "I am really excited about our incredible publishing lineup for 2024 and impressed by the creative ways in which teams are approaching the marketplace. I firmly believe that there are many different paths to success in publishing and that together we have created the best environment for various publishing homes and creative visions to thrive. We see this by our internal growth, as new imprints launch and existing imprints expand.... Every voice we publish offers readers entertainment, inspiration, and a source of truth. By reflecting on past experiences and offering insight into new ones, books have the power to bring us together--a power I think the world needs more of."