Publishing

Hong Kong’s IPO market is turning Chinese

8 November 2017

China Literature smashed the chandeliers in its $1.1 billion Hong Kong debut, soaring more than 80 pct in early trade. As local punters swarm into mainland tech, the new-issue market is mimicking distortions common in China. For the exchange, it's a good problem to have.

Tencent’s books are less gripping than its games

24 October 2017

Publishing unit China Literature wants to list in Hong Kong at a value of up to $6.4 bln. Sales and earnings are taking off. But e-books are less lucrative than online games, with a smaller market and a shorter track record. This does not merit a valuation to match its parent.

Pearson’s improved report card could be erased

17 October 2017

The education publisher issued a slightly more optimistic forecast for operating profit and said its U.S. textbook business is unlikely to repeat its catastrophic 2016. But Pearson has misread its key market before. The shift to digital publishing still looks painful.

Review: Black Monday infamy obscures 1980s excess

13 October 2017

In “A First-Class Catastrophe” journalist Diana Henriques argues the 1987 stock-market crash should have prompted smarter regulatory overhaul. She has a point. But scandals earlier in the decade she covers – and some she doesn't – were the real missed opportunities for reform.

Review: How Murdoch’s news revolution devoured him

22 September 2017

The play “Ink” dramatises the tycoon’s populist assault on Britain’s cloistered media after buying the Sun in 1969. It’s a deft history of the press culture that eventually led to the phone hacking scandal. These days Rupert Murdoch’s empire is the one at risk of disruption.

Review: Dalio writes ultimate baby boomer’s guide

15 September 2017

The Bridgewater founder is true to his generation. He wants you to decide what you want and help you get it. To that end he offers his life and work principles – all 525 of them. It's a bid for immortality, like the algorithm he's designing to run his $160 bln hedge fund.

Murdochs pay price for governance scandals

12 September 2017

Fox’s bid for Sky may be delayed after a minister questioned whether phone-hacking and harassment scandals could hurt broadcasting standards. It raises the risks of an awkward investigation. Worse, the UK’s volatile politics could shift further against Fox owner Rupert Murdoch.

Brexit-defying UK newspaper tie-up makes odd sense

8 September 2017

The publisher of the left-wing Daily Mirror may buy the anti-EU Daily Express. Trinity Mirror’s prior print purchases have boosted margins despite falling revenue, and a mooted 130 mln pound price is affordable. Pension liabilities, not politics, may be the main sticking point.

Barnes & Noble sale has plot logic but no ending

25 July 2017

An activist wants the $560 mln U.S. bookstore chain to go private. That makes sense for a fading business that needs work. The problem is finding a buyer on the other end. Amazon’s Whole Foods deal has everyone thinking. But Barnes & Noble may be nowhere on Jeff Bezos’ list.

Pearson’s $1 bln Penguin sale papers over cracks

11 July 2017

The education group is selling almost half its 47 pct stake in Penguin Random House to co-owner Bertelsmann. Pearson has maximised the cash proceeds, but the valuation looks low. With a still-troubled core business, boss John Fallon is running out of assets to sell.

Bolloré clan’s deal sums don’t add up

23 June 2017

Vincent Bolloré’s Vivendi is buying ad group Havas, run by his son Yannick. The younger Bolloré says it may create at least 390 mln euros of value, justifying the premium. That’s dubious: the premium is arguably bigger than he claims, and the return on investment still looks low.

Review: Zippy Uber trip gets barely halfway there

9 June 2017

Readers of "Wild Ride" are in safe hands with Fortune's Adam Lashinsky at the wheel. The book is efficient and effective, like travel using Uber's app. Given the fast pace of events for the $68 bln firm, however, life already has sped past this literary journey's destination.

Cost cuts won’t save Pearson or its CEO

5 May 2017

The UK education publisher is planning 300 mln pounds of savings by 2020, with the troubled North America business taking some of the pain. Markets aren’t giving embattled boss John Fallon much credit for the plans, and falling revenue could cancel out the gain to shareholders.

New York Times and CNN should beware news cycles

3 May 2017

What Donald Trump calls a "failing" publisher and "fake news" network revealed impressive subscriber and viewer numbers. Political fatigue is among the risks to the recent growth, however. Ad trends are scary, too. The companies can't believe too much in their own headlines.

Pearson buyout would be a study in low returns

23 February 2017

The UK education publisher's stock is down 22 percent this year, and its sprawling global business looks ripe for a breakup. Factor in the chance that the core U.S. textbook market is in terminal decline, however, and private equity would be brave to write the cheque.

Review: Defending America against the Fed

10 February 2017

A new book by Danielle DiMartino Booth, an adviser to ex-Fed hawk Richard Fisher, castigates the U.S. central bank's Ivy League groupthink and failure to change course since the crisis. Though Booth has a point, Janet Yellen and her colleagues aren't as omnipotent as she implies.

Review: The hollow promise of ending GDP worship

3 February 2017

Switching from the touchstone of economics to broader measures of value would be more truthful and could make the world a fairer place, Lorenzo Fioramonti argues. But his optimistic vision overlooks the inevitability of growth and integration – and humans' competitive drive.

BT boss is behind Pearson’s in CEO sack race

27 January 2017

Both the UK telco and the education publisher have recently released profit warnings wiping a fifth off their market value. BT boss Gavin Patterson has a less-bad shareholder return record than Pearson's John Fallon. Some of the firm's bigger problems are also out of his control.

Pearson chief Fallon gets an F

18 January 2017

The education publisher's shares fell almost 30 pct after a profit warning from boss John Fallon - not his first. A hit to textbook sales through retailers should have been foreseen, and Fallon's tenure has been bad for investors. This latest shocker puts him on the naughty step.

Harry Potter can add magic to predictive power

23 December 2016

As J.K. Rowling's boy wizard turns 20, it's a good time to recall how many agents and publishers rejected him. Similarly closed minds help explain why recent political upheavals have surprised many and economic forecasts are often wrong. A little more imagination goes a long way.