Wiley John & Sons (JW'A)

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Louis Vogel

John Wiley & Sons is a global print and electronic publishing company entwined in both the American domestic and foreign markets. The company maintains 3 core businesses: scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly journals; encyclopedias, books, and online products; and textbooks and educational materials. In order to maintain its global presence, the company maintains publishing, marketing, and distribution centers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia. ^[1] A critical component to company strategy is the utilization of publishing alliances with other corporations including General Mills, Weight Watchers, Morningstar, and the Culinary Institute of America. In addition to internal publishing and distribution, Wiley & Sons has also embarked on a process of acquiring competitors in the last several fiscal years, including the 2007 purchases of Blackwell Ltd., WhatsonWhen.com in 2007, Sybex, Inc. in 2006, and Hungry Minds Inc. in 2002, which included the For Dummies series, Betty Crocker an Weight Watchers Cookbooks, and Frommer’s Travel Books.^[2] The scientific, technological, and medical business continues to be the chief cash cow at Wiley, accounting for 58% of total company revenue in 2008, and exhibiting revenue growth at a compound annual rate of 26% over the past 5 years. ^[3] JW.A’s Professional/Trade business includes a combination of acquiring, developing, and publishing books and subscriptions in all facets of media covering their global territory, this Professional/Trade business accounted for 28% of total Company revenue in 2008, and has grown at a rate of 5% compounded annually over the past 5 years. .^[4] In addition to the traditional forms of print media, John Wiley & Sons joined other major publishing companies in 2005 in its efforts to digitize its content, allowing Wiley consumers to search through all content regardless of original medium..^[5]

Business Overview

John Wiley & Sons is a global print and electronic publishing company participating in publishing, distribution, and marketing of content in both the United States and abroad. Acquisition of other print companies such as Blackwell Ltd. and Hungry Minds Inc. has enabled Wiley to maintain a prime position in the global publishing hegemony..^[6]

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Financial Discussion

Over the past 5 years, John Wiley & Son has experienced continued growth, with the exception of a slight decrease in net income between 2006 and 2007. In the 2008 fiscal year, John Wiley & Sons reported revenue growth of 36% to 1,673.7 million, reduced to 33% excluding the favorable impact of foreign exchange..^[8] The acquisition of Blackwell Publishing had dramatic effects on revenue growth in FY2008, as Blackwell contributed $379.4 million to company growth, Blackwell revenue increased from $105.8 million in 2007 to $485.2 million in 2008..^[9] The acquisition of Blackwell proved to be critical, as adjusted revenue reflected negative growth between FY2006 and FY2007 as John Wiley & Sons' net income declined from $96,076.0 million to $94,151.0..^[10] Excluding Blackwell, . John Wiley & Sons showed growth of a mere 5% as strong growth in Asia and Europe was tempered by moderate growth in the U.S. markets due to the economic slowdown..^[11] Gross profit margin remained relatively stagnant between 2007 and 2008, as GPM was reported at 67.9% for 2008. While GPM stagnated, operating and administrative expenses increased by 33%, including $187.5 million in operating expenses for Blackwell. Operating income improved by 38% to $223.0 million with the inclusion of Blackwell, however, excluding Blackwell, operating income grew by a mere 3% as a result of higher operating costs with the addition of Blackwell..^[12] Adjusted net income reflected growth from $94,151.00 million in 2007 to $128,873 million in 2008, a growth of nearly 37%..^[13]

Q2 2009 Discussion

John Wiley & Sons reported revenue of $432 million for 2Q2009, reflecting growth of 2% over the same quarter in 2008. Earnings per diluted share increased by 14% in the quarter, a reflection of revenue growth in the STMS and higher education businesses. Also, the company purchased 534,800 shares of its common stock at a cost of approximately $19 million to the company. During the quarter, Wiley, along with four other major publishing companies, entered into an agreement with Google that enabled in-copyright texts from major libraries to be made easily accessible online.

Business Segments

Professional/Trade (P/T) (28% Revenue) The Professional/Trade segment has shown mixed growth over the past few years, as moderate growth in Europe and Asia combined with difficult U.S. retail conditions between 2006 and 2007, however P/T returned to steady growth between 2007 and 2008 due to a combination online advertising sales, as well as cooking, business, travel and technology programs..^[14]

Scientific, Technology, and Medical (STM) (58% Revenue) STM has continued to be one of the strongest segments of John Wiley & Sons, accounting for over half of company revenue. STM growth stemmed from journal subscriptions, reference books, and sale of journal reprints and advertising revenue. The STM segment also reflects Wiley’s first license agreement with any major North American library, as Wiley signed an agreement with the New York Public Library to allow public access online to over 300 peer-reviewed journals..^[15]

Higher Education The Higher Education segment takes part in both online only, text only, and text with online accompaniment publishing and distribution. In addition to this, the Higher Education segment enhanced and re-launched www.wileyplus.com shortly after the end of the 2007 fiscal year, enabling the site to be more accessible to both students and faculty. Likewise, Higher Education initiated an online peer-to-peer network, Wiley Faculty Network, with the intent of making technology more available to students and faculty alike..^[16]

Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Acquired in February 2007, Blackwell was a significant addition to Wiley’s business. The company has sought to fully integrate Blackwell with the STM segment. Global merger of Blackwell and Wiley content have created new synergies and revenue streams for Wiley & Sons. In addition to this, Wiley has also been able to capitalize on Blackwell’s offshore and outsourcing of content management, manufacturing, and support services..^[17]

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Key Trends and Forces

Publishers must adjust to online revolution as well

As the traditional print media, in particular daily newspapers, slides into obscurity with the increased prevalence of readily available content online, traditional publishing companies have been forced to find means of exploiting this new medium. Wiley & Sons, like many of their counterparts, have adjusted to this dramatic change in technology with efforts to digitize media content. The effort to digitize such content offers both positives and negative from a company perspective. On one hand, the effort to digitize makes most media content readily available to global users, given access to the internet. In addition to this, digitalization completely revolutionizes storage ability, with a seemingly endless ability to house media online. By placing content online, the publishing companies also are able to eliminate the incurred costs of shipping, manufacturing, production, and storage. At the same time, efforts to digitalize reveal new problems for publishing giants as well, as protection of copyright and the legality of presenting such content through the online medium has come into question. Though as the trend to digitalize becomes predominant, the impact should be beneficial to Wiley & Sons as a significant part of their business is conducive to online marketing and use, in particular Dummies Guide books, Frommer’s travel books, and both Weight Watchers and Betty Crocker cookbooks..^[19]

Competition

John Wiley & Sons Publishing is a global publishing company involved in both print and online media. John Wiley & Sons competes with other international publishing companies in several different print fields, including newspapers and periodicals as well as traditional bound books.

Major Competitors in sale of periodicals and newspapers include: Gannet Company Inc. Tribune Company Time Company ^[20]

Major Competitors in sales of books: Random House Inc. Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt Publishing Company Pearson Publishing Company ^[21]

References

1. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report, 10K, p.4
2. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.11
3. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.11
4. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.10
5. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.12
6. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.4-12
7. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual 10K
8. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.17
9. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.17
10. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.27
11. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.17
12. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.17
13. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.18
14. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.10,19-20
15. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.10-12, 20-21
16. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.12-13, 22-23
17. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.21-22
18. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K, p.48
19. ↑ John Wiley & Sons Annual Report 10K
20. ↑ Yahoo! Finance JW-A
21. ↑ Yahoo! Finance JW-A