Lagardère Publishing – 2024 overview and key dates

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Lagardère Publishing maintained high revenue and profitability in a lacklustre economic environment, with excellent performances in the United States and the United Kingdom.

France

In a market that edged down by 0.3% in 2024, business in France declined by 3% in the wake of a strong performance in 2023. While General Literature sales were down against a tough 2023 comparison basis, the division’s publishing houses distinguished themselves with numerous literary prizes and bestsellers. These included the Renaudot prize for Jacaranda by Gaël Faye (Grasset) and the Goncourt des Lycéens prize for Madelaine avant l’aube by Sandrine Collette (JC Lattès); as well as bestselling titles Ce que je cherche by Jordan Bardella, Mémoricide by Philippe de Villiers (Fayard) and Quelqu’un d’autre by Guillaume Musso (Calmann-Lévy). Audiolib also set a new record thanks to rapid growth in audio book downloads.

Illustrated Books suffered from the lack of bestsellers comparable to the fortieth Asterix album or The Middle Kingdom film tie-in, both published in 2023. The slowdown in the manga, travel, and illustrated hardcover markets also weighed on results. However, the division enjoyed several successes in the Children and Young Adult and romance segments, including Sarah Rivens’ Lakestone, and in colouring books.

The Education segment declined in the absence of curriculum reform, while Larousse was affected by the downturn in dictionary sales, despite a strong performance in the young adult niche, particularly with the new specialist Comet imprint.

English-speaking countries

In the United Kingdom, business grew by a further 3%, following on from a dynamic year in 2023 (growth of 6%), despite a 0.6% contraction in the broader market. Hachette UK benefited from the continued success of the Twisted (Ana Huang), The Empyrean (Rebecca Yarros) and The Housemaid (Freida McFadden) series. The Education segment was down due to reductions in public funding for textbook purchases. However, digital sales saw significant growth, with audiobook downloads up 38%, supported by a new partnership with Spotify, and e-book sales up 8%.

In the United States, Hachette Book Group recorded strong growth of 7% in a market that expanded by 2.3%. This performance was driven by a substantial rise in digital sales, with audiobook downloads up 30% and e-books up 7%. The Children and Young Adult segment also performed strongly, boosted by successes including The Wild Robot series (Peter Brown), which has now been made into a film, and bestsellers such as Eruption (James Patterson and Michael Crichton), The Shepherd King duology (Rachel Gillig), The Housemaid series (Freida McFadden) and Just for the Summer (Abby Jimenez).

Spain and latin america

Revenue in Spanish-speaking markets declined by 6%. Spain was penalised by a challenging 2023 comparison basis, a year that saw both peak national curriculum reform and the release of the fortieth Asterix album. Key highlights included the launch of new imprints such as Pika Ediciones and Kitaeru, aimed at meeting growing demand for manga and self-help titles. By contrast, Mexico saw strong growth in the Education and General Literature segments.

Partworks and board games

Partworks revenue grew thanks to the success of collections launched in late 2023 and a strong release schedule in the first half of 2024. Board Games also had an exceptional year, with multiple successes across the catalogue and the impact of coveted awards such as Spiel des Jahres for Sky Team (Le Scorpion Masqué) and As d’Or (newcomers category) for Faraway (Catch Up Games).

KEY DATES 2024

(1) Source: GfK for France and Spain, Nielsen BookScan for the United Kingdom and NPD BookScan for the United States. Market trends are expressed in value terms.