Big Publishers Saw Earnings Rebound in the First Half of 2024

Notably, all three publishers have engaged in extensive restructuring efforts that have included job cuts, though those efforts now seem to be largely completed. At HarperCollins, sales were up 6% and profits jumped 54% in the first half of 2024, after what CEO Brian Murray called a "transformative" 12-month period. In an interview last month, Murray told PW the reorganization at HC was in response to a changed postpandemic marketplace.

Lagardère Publishing, home to Hachette Livre, created what it called "a new English-language management structure" at the end of 2023, which in essence formed one management team to oversee both Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK under David Shelley. In addition to reducing executive salaries, the reorganization involved major changes to Little, Brown and the HBG sales team and also included the further integration of Work-
man Publishing-a process that had been delayed per an agreement to retain Workman staff for a three-year period following HBG's acquisition of the publisher in 2021.

So far, the changes appear to be effective. HBG reported a 5% growth in sales, with profits skyrocketing 74% in the first half of 2024.