Lagardère Publishing delivered solid results thanks to global editorial successes and disciplined operational management, outperforming a sluggish market and mixed local trends.
France
Revenue grew by 2%, driven by the performance of the Illustrated division – boosted by the new Asterix album – as well as the strong performances in manga and colouring books, and the breakout success of Stitch. This offset a slowdown in the Romance, Travel and Fine Arts segments.
The Education segment also recorded strong growth, benefiting from the impact of primary and middle school curriculum reform. Additionally, Larousse recorded an increase in revenue thanks to the Lifestyle segment (notably air fryer recipe and colouring books).
At the same time, General Literature sales declined due to the absence of best-sellers to rival those released in 2024, despite successes in 2025 with Dan Brown’s The Secret of Secrets and Aurélie Valognes’ La fugue (JC Lattès), Pierre Lemaitre’s Un avenir radieux and Michael Connelly’s Nightshade (published in French as Sous les eaux d’Avalon, Calmann-Lévy) and Adélaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre’s Je voulais vivre (Grasset); as well as Philippe de Villiers’ Populicide, Nicolas Sarkozy’s Le journal d’un prisonnier and Jordan Bardella’s Ce que veulent les Français (Fayard). Lastly, Audiolib enjoyed solid growth thanks to the partnership signed with Spotify in late 2024 designed to expand access to its audiobook catalogue.
English-speaking countries
In the United Kingdom, the upward trend in business continued (up 3%), driven by the immense success of Rebecca Yarros’ Onyx Storm, the release of new novels by Robert Galbraith (The Hallmarked Man) and Ken Follett (Circle of Days), and further sales of Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid series. The business also benefited from the takeover of Bloomsbury’s distribution in April 2025. Conversely, the Children and Young Adult and Education segments were down in sluggish markets. Lastly, digital sales grew significantly in audio (up 11%) and e-books (up 7%).
In the United States, Hachette Book Group reported revenue growth of 3%. This performance was underpinned by major successes such as Gone Before Goodbye (Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben), Brimstone (Callie Hart), and The First Gentleman (Bill Clinton and James Patterson). The Fantasy and Young Adult segments also excelled, with Rachel Gillig’s The Knight and the Moth and the anniversary reissue of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga. At the same time, backlist titles such as Freida McFadden’s The Housemaid, Colleen Hoover’s Verity, and Callie Hart’s Quicksilver recorded significant sales. Lastly, digital sales increased by 7% in audio and by 5% in e-books.
Spain and latin america
Revenue in Spanish-speaking markets declined by 6% following the conclusion of the latest curriculum reform campaign in Spain. Despite this, sales momentum was strong in the General Literature, Children and Young Adult, and Fiction segments (notably the latest Asterix album and Callie Hart’s Quicksilver). Activity was also down in Mexico.
Partworks and board games
PThe Partworks business grew by 5% (particularly in the United Kingdom, the United States, Poland and Latin America). Similarly, the Board Games segment continued its growth with a 10% increase driven by the success of Flip 7 (published by Catch Up Games) and consistently strong sales of back catalogue titles such as Skyjo and Crack List (distributed by Blackrock) and Sky Team (published by Le Scorpion Masqué).
KEY DATES 2025
- January-December: more than 180 literary prizes for Lagardère Publishing worldwide, including some 80 in France.
- January: Hachette Book Group and Hachette UK roll out the Raising Readers programme to promote the love of reading among young people.
- March: Grupo Anaya titles are now sold and distributed by Hachette Book Group in North America.
- April: acquisition of 999 Games, the leading distributor of Board Games in the Netherlands.
British publisher Bloomsbury joins the Hachette UK distribution network. - July: acquisition of the business assets of LEC (Livres et Communication), operator of the prestigious Ducasse Édition brand.
Lagardère Publishing exceeds its carbon reduction targets and unveils a new “50/30” strategy aimed at reducing its emissions by 50% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. - October: global release of the 41st Asterix album (Asterix in Lusitania), published simultaneously in 19 languages and dialects. Acquisition of the Le Routard brand.