In the first quarter of fiscal year 2027 ending August 31, revenues at Scholastic fell 4%, to $216.8 million, and the operating loss of $92.2 million was identical to the same period a year earlier. The company noted that the summer quarter is traditionally slow.
Children's Book Publishing and Distribution revenues fell $3.6 million, to $105.8 million, with book fairs revenues down $900,000, to $33.2 million, and book clubs revenues up $300,000, to $2.1 million. Consolidated trade revenues fell $3 million, to $70.5 million, "primarily reflecting higher international co-edition sales in the prior year period that did not recur in the quarter."
Education revenues fell $9.7 million, to $30.4 million, "reflecting continued pressure on school and district funding and spending on supplemental curriculum materials."
International revenues increased $1.1 million, to $60.5 million. Excluding favorable foreign currency exchange of $1.2 million, revenues were approximately in line with the prior-year period.
President and CEO Peter Warwick said that "strong early indicators across our businesses [are] reinforcing our confidence entering the important back-to-school and fall season. As we indicated in July, our operating loss for the quarter included the full-period impact of the sale-leaseback transactions," related to the sale last year of Scholastic property, including its New York City headquarters, that it is leasing back. "During the quarter, we also sustained investments to support our growth priorities in the quarters ahead."
"In Children's Books, we begin the second quarter with positive momentum, with Book Fair bookings ahead of prior year and a publishing and franchise schedule that positions us well for the year ahead, both domestically and internationally. During the first quarter, Entertainment's production activity and pipeline continued to grow strongly, as we expanded capabilities to extend Scholastic IP across formats and platforms. In Education, though increased pressure on school and district budgets impacted sales, we continued to make progress aligning the cost structure and advancing the business's transformation to support improved performance and long-term growth."