In the first quarter of 2025, revenue for all Lagardère publishing operations, including Hachette Book Group in the U.S., rose 8%, to €623 million (about $708 million). Without the addition of sales from Barnes & Noble's Sterling Publishing, which it bought last year, offset by the sale of Paris Match, revenue rose 4.6%. Chairman and CEO Arnaud Lagardère stated that Lagardère Publishing "had a good first quarter, with growth in all geographic areas--especially the United Kingdom--lifted by bestsellers and the board games business, which is continuing to expand."
Concerning Hachette Book Group, CEO David Shelley noted that sales in the first quarter rose 8.9%, when sales from Sterling's Union Square &. Co. are included. Sales without Union Square rose 0.4%. The revenue gain reflected "continued strong momentum in backlist sales (notably Verity by Colleen Hoover, The Housemaid by Freida McFadden and Quicksilver by Callie Hart, published at the end of 2024)," Shelley continued. "This growth performance was achieved despite a lighter release schedule than in the first quarter of 2024."
Other first-quarter bestsellers included On the Hippie Trail by Rick Steves, Nobody's Fool by Harlan Coben, Will the Pigeon Graduate? by Mo Willems, How to Menopause by Tamsen Fadal, Nightweaver by R.M. Gray, and four James Patterson titles (Paranoia, The Writer, The Texas Murders, and Holmes Is Missing).
Shelley added that the second quarter "has started extremely well with double Number One New York Times bestsellers for Grand Central with Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez and Enchantra by Kaylie Smith, as well as new titles from David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, and more."