Houghton chief sees larger market share

NEW YORK, Massachusetts, May 31, 2005 -- Rising expenses caused an operating loss for educatiojn publisher Houghton Mifflin in the company's first quarter, which ended March 31, but growing sales were entirely as expected and long-term prospects are good, according to president Tony Lucki. He blamed a $121 million operating loss on editorial development, marketing and administrative expenses. Lucki characterized the expenses investments: "New products, services and sales initatives have strengthned our position in our traditioinal K-12 busiensses, and we are optimistic about our opportunities in new subject areas such as science and elementary social studies in the coming adoption growth cycle." Lucki predicted a larger market share for Houghton Mifflin. Background: Financial details for first quarter

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN

Pearson bullish on 2005 results

NEW YORK, Massachusetts, May 30, 2005 -- A rosy year is ahead for book publisher Pearson, including its Pearson Education unit, the company told shareholders. Prospects for 2005 are "very strong" due to a rapidlyu growing U.S. education market, executives said. With more federal and state spending, a sharp rebound is occurring in the el-hi sales. Adption possibilities were reported at $900 million this year, compared to $500 in 2004. The higher-ed market is lessy rosy, but Pearson said it expects as a company tio outperform the market. Testing is growing at double digits, which will continue into 2008, the company said.

PEARSON HALL

Bain offers deal for School Specialty

GREENVILLE, Wisconsin, May 27, 2005 -- A Boston investors group, Bain Capital, offered $1.5 billion to acquire Wisconsin-based School Specialty, a $1 billion-a-year education publisher. The deal, although subject to regulatory and other approvals, could bring School Specialty into the Houghton-Mifflin fold, which Bain participated in acquiring in 2002. Thomas Lee was a prime mover in both Bain deals.

SCHOOL SPECIALTY

Wiley moves to acquire Sybex

ALAMEDA, California, May 18, 2005 -- Computer book publisher Sybex would ve acquired by education publisher Wiley in an agreement that would be consummated at the end of June. Terms were not announcedbut Sybex's 2004 revenue was reported at $10 million-plus. Sybex would bring a 450-title backlist to the Wiley fold. The company produces about 100 new titles a year. At Wiley, Sybex would be part of the trade/professional division. Sybex was founded in 1976 by Rodnay Zaks. Its strengths have been information technology and nusiness certification. It has titles in 25 languages.

WILEY

Houghton Mifflin. Sales grew 5.3 percent to $146.4 million in the first quarter ended March 31, compared to a year earlier. K-12 sales grew 5.8 percent to $85.4 million. Trade and reference sales grew 3.8 percent to $27 million. College sales grew 9.3 percent to $20 million.

Softback u-press book sales surge

NEW YORK, May 11, 2004 -- Sales of soft-bound books from university presses soared almost 50 percent in March, compared to a year earlier, bringing the year-to-date rebound to 15.5 percent, according to the latest data from the Association of American Publishers. El-hi sales grew 13.7 percent. College sales continued to decline. Here are the year-to-date data for genres in which academic authors write the most, as extrapolated from 92 reporting publishers: Univ press (soft) El-hi Professional University press (hard) College March 49.1% 13.7% -4.3% --8.1% -19.0% Year- to-date 15.5% 14.2% -2.0% -6.2% -13.7%

Association of American Publishers EARLIER ARTICLE Previous monthly sales report Databank index

Ron Larson (math), Pennsylvania State University, Robert P. Hostetler (math), Pennsylvania State University, and Bruce H. Edwards (math), University of Florida, wrote the eighth edition of Multivariable Calculus (Houghton Mifflin).

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