Wiley 2Q Numbers Surprisingly Strong

Wiley is my employer, so you'll forgive me if I stare much longer and more deeply into their quarterly results than those of other publishers.

But John Wiley & Sons, Inc. released an announcement this morning about second quarter sales and revenue that's somewhat different from the gloomy chain of recent publishing news -- revenue up 2%, adjusted earnings per diluted share up 14%. (As always, I note that I may work for Wiley, but I have no standing to speak for Wiley on this or any other subject.)

Admittedly, the big powerhouse of Wiley is the STMS division, which publishes books and journals for technical and scholarly audiences, but that's a big division, and it seems to be doing very well. (Check out the margins -- revenue of $254 million and direct contribution to profit of $105 million!) There are days when I wish I worked in that end of the company, I'll admit.

But I'm in the P/T division, with all of the trade-focused books, along with a lot of technical books for professionals (architects, restaurant chefs, psychologists, and, of course, my beloved accountants) -- and that's not doing so well, in common with all of US trade publishing. I suspect we're not as bad as some, but we'll have to wait to see numbers from other public companies to be sure.

In any case, the takeaway, for those who don't work for Wiley, is that times are tough and retail sales have slowed, but the sky isn't falling; publishing is big and contains many kingdoms, some of which seem to be entirely untouched. (So far, he added, just to be ominous.)