Humanitas heads toward 11.5m-turnover

Grupul Humanitas, which includes Editura Humanitas (Humanitas Publishing House), Humanitas Fiction, Librariile Humanitas distribution firm and Humanitas Multimedia, expects to generate turnover worth 11.5m euros this year, up 15% against 2007, primarily due to an improved portfolio. Lidia Bodea, the general manager of Editura Humanitas, revealed the profit margin is forecast to reach 15%.
Almost 50% of this turnover, namely 5m euros, is secured by Editura Humanitas exclusively.
“The increase is also due to the large number of titles in the portfolio and to the sales derived by the newly created Humanitas Fiction publishing house, led by Denisa Comanescu,” explained Lidia Bodea.
At the same time, online book sales doubled this year. The weight of online sales stands at 2%, whilst an up to 5% increase is forecast for yearend. Therefore, around 250,000 euros of Editura Humanitas turnover will be secured via Internet sales.
The group puts this year’s market share at 10%, on a book market that has reached 60-65m euros, according to Lidia Botea.
The group secures distribution through several hundred clients (Diverta, Carturesti are the main chains), to which its own chain of bookstores is added, namely 16 Humanitas bookstores, which includes 3 in Bucharest and others in major cities.
For next year, the group plans to expand its bookstore chain and open in new locations in Cluj-Napoca, Baia Mare and Iasi.
Last year, the publishing house had 450 new and republished titles. For each volume sold the author receives 10-12% of the book price, while a distributor gets 30-45% and the rest goes to the publishing house.
For this year, Grupul Humanitas has budgeted investments worth 350,000 euros, 40% more than last year. “The money was primarily earmarked for participation and promotion at two book fairs – Bookfest and Gaudeamus,” explained Bodea. The money will also be used for campaigns to promote star titles.
Referring to the book market, Lidia Bodea specified it was in the process of settling and added that Romanian readers’ preferences have now become clear and niches had been covered, which signals the market has matured.