WSOY is Finland’s largest book publisher and a significant European educational publisher. WSOY is also one of the largest book printers and the leading diary publisher in the Nordic region.
KEY INDICATORS, € million | 31.3.2005 | 31.3.2004 | Change, % | 31.12.2004 |
Net sales | 48.3 | 42.8 | 12.8 | 253.9 |
Operating profit | -7.1 | 1.1 | 29.1 | |
% of net sales | -14.6 | 2.6 | 11.5 | |
Balance sheet total | 478.3 | 212.2 | 125.4 | 486.1 |
Gross investments | 2.1 | 2.9 | -25.6 | 204.7 |
Personnel under employment contract, average | 2 368 | 1 799 | 31.6 | 2 188 |
Personnel, average (full-time equivalents) | 2 185 | 1 697 | 28.8 | 2 025 |
OPERATIONAL INDICATORS, 1.1–31.3. *) | 2005 | 2004 | ||
Number of new titles published | ||||
Books | 192 | 161 | ||
Electronic products | 24 | 23 | ||
Number of reprints published | ||||
Books | 210 | 245 | ||
Electronic products | 28 | 51 | ||
Books printed, millions | 4.8 | 5.3 | ||
Paper consumption, tonnes | 4 221 | 4 056 |
*) Units in Finland
WSOY’s net sales totalled EUR 48.3 (42.8) million in the first quarter. Net sales increased particularly due to the acquisition of Malmberg Investments in July 2004. After closing the deal, WSOY’s educational publishing units in Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Poland were reorganised under a new educational publishing business. Previously, educational publishing was reported as part of publishing. After adjustment for changes in Group structure, net sales declined by 7.4%.
Net sales in educational publishing reached EUR 12.8 (4.0) million. Net sales developed according to plan in the first quarter. Sharing best practices and benefiting from synergies in printing, ICT, and content production in particular, have started well. The majority of orders and sales of educational materials traditionally come in the second and third quarters. Advance orders show positive development.
Net sales in publishing decreased to EUR 23.4 (27.6) million. This development was partly influenced by the publishing schedule of books. Both multi-volume books of Weilin+Göös and business-to-business books were postponed to the second quarter. Development in general literature remained strong. Readers took an interest especially in children and juvenile books and translated fiction. In the review period, sales to bookstores grew by almost 5% but sales through book clubs fell slightly from the previous year due to decreased number of members.
Net sales in printing totalled EUR 13.9 (15.2) million. Growth of the digital printer Dark continued to be strong but the book printer WS Bookwell fell clearly below the level of the strong previous year. Net sales of diaries amounted to EUR 0.8 (1.3) million.
WSOY’s operating result for January–March amounted to EUR -7.1 (1.1) million. The result was particularly influenced by new operations in the Netherlands and Belgium, where result is mainly accrued in the second and third quarters. Also, development in sales of other businesses affected the result.
WSOY’s net sales and operating profit for 2005 are expected to grow significantly, due to the international expansion of educational publishing, among others. The development is also expected to be positive in the other businesses.