Resolute Invests in Augusta Mill

http://www.pulpapernews.com/2013/08/resolute-announces-a-us30-million-investment-at-its-augusta-mill

Resolute Forest Products will make a US$30-million investment in the woodyard of its Augusta, Georgia, newsprint mill, according to Pulp & Paper Canada, citing The Augusta Chronicle.
The new woodyard will process full-length logs, instead of using waste-paper furnish.
“We’re eliminating the sawdeck that cuts those logs into small pieces. We’ll be processing full-length logs through our woodyard, which debarks the trees and then chips them,” general manager Jay Backus says, as quoted by The Augusta Chronicle.
Completion of the woodyard is planned for Sept. 2014.
About $16 million in new equipment, including a mill chipper, two log cranes and conveyer systems, will constitute the bulk of costs, said Backus. This will result in a more economical operation of the mill and improve its competitiveness in the newsprint market, according to The Augusta Chronicle.

Nippon Adds International Sales Management & Planning Dept.

http://news.paperindex.com/CompanySpecificNews/Nippon_Paper_Industries_to_Establish_International_Sales_Management__Planning_Department/

Nippon Paper Industries Co., Ltd. (the Company, President; Yoshio Haga) is pleased to announce that as of September 1 it will newly establish its International Sales Management & Planning Department.

International Sales Management & Planning Department will have expertise in dealing with export business intensively, covering the whole field of Paper & Paperboard in the Company. It will also reinforce the local sales organizations overseas and aim to expand the sales of the Nippon Paper Group's specific products with high growth potential in the global market.

IP Increases Cutsize Price in Brazil

http://www.internationalpaper.com/index.html
International Paper (IP) is implementing a Real 80/tonne ($35/tonne) price increase for uncoated woodfree cutsize paper in the Brazilian market. According to the company, the price hike started to be implemented in July and is expected to be completed by the end of August.

The price adjustment has the objective of restoring profit margins as costs have increased significantly, IP said. The company implemented a Real 120/tonne hike on cutsize paper in the first quarter.

Market contacts told RISI that other suppliers are also adjusting prices for cutsize in Brazil. One printer also said he got a 5% adjustment in July.

Corrugated Shipments Increased in 2012

http://www.paperage.com/2013news/08_07_2013corrugated_packaging_alliance_fact_sheet.html

The Corrugated Packaging Alliance (CPA) released an update on the corrugated industry’s economic performance, available for download on its website. Corrugated packaging’s economic indicators are monitored, measured and reported as part of the industry’s sustainability program.

Among the facts reported:

Corrugated packaging contributes to U.S. success in a global economy.

The value of industry shipments increased to $26.4 billion in 2012.Corrugated packaging exports amounted to more than $1 billion in 2012.
Containerboard exports accounted for $2.3 billion in 2012, or a total of 22 percent of paper industry exports.
Old Corrugated Containers (OCC) exports accounted for more than $1.6 billion in 2012 and 49 percent of the 2012 value of recovered paper exports.

Quad/Graphics Reports Q2 Results

http://whattheythink.com/news/64773-quadgraphics-q2-loss-widens/

Quad/Graphics, Inc. today reported results for its second quarter ending June 30, 2013. The reported results include Vertis from the day of acquisition on January 16, 2013. Prior year financial results do not include the acquisition of Vertis. For full financial results, including reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures, please see the accompanying information.

Net sales for the second quarter 2013 increased to $1.1 billion versus $934 million for the same period in 2012 due to the Vertis acquisition. Second quarter 2013 Adjusted EBITDA was $111 million as compared to $112 million for the same period in 2012. Recurring Free Cash Flow was $86 million versus $60 million for the same period in 2012.

For the first six months of 2013, net sales were $2.2 billion versus $1.9 billion for the same period in 2012, representing a 16% increase due to the Vertis acquisition. Year-to-date Adjusted EBITDA was $225 million versus $238 million in 2012. Recurring Free Cash Flow was $206 million for the first six months of 2013 compared to $167 million for the same period in 2012, continuing a track record of solid cash flow generation.

Consolidates Graphics Reports Q1 Results

http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/consolidated-graphics-earnings-heres-why-investors-like-these-results.html/?a=viewall

Consolidated Graphics, Inc. today announced financial results for its first quarter ended June 30, 2013.

Revenue for the June 2013 quarter was $236.7 million, compared to $238.3 million for the same quarter last year, as an expected decline in election related business was partially offset by a 1% increase in same-store sales. Adjusted Operating Income increased 211% for the quarter to $8.7 million or 3.7% of revenue, compared to $2.8 million, or 1.2% of revenue last year. Adjusted Net Income increased 390% to $4.7 million for the quarter, compared to $1.0 million for the prior year. Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share for the June quarter increased 444% to $.49, compared to $.09 last year. Adjusted EBITDA increased 17% to $25.0 million for the quarter and Free Cash Flow was $14.4 million.

More Coverage of AAM 1H Circ Data; MPA Statement

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

NYT notes newsstand declines for a number of key celebrity and women’s magazines. MIN’s Steve Cohen points out that sales were not helped by lack of big events in 1H (royal baby birth should help 2H sales)…Ad Age includes comments from Hearst Magazines’ John Loughlin, who points out newsstand gains by Woman’s Day (+23.1%), Food Network Magazine (+12.1%) and Good Housekeeping (+6.5%)…Capital NY notes that New York magazine and The New Yorker saw 22.6% and 17.7% gains in single-copy sales, which both attribute primarily to increases in digital single-copy sales. Print newsstand represents small portions of total circ for both (16,070 out of 408,822 for New York; 30,685 out of 1,055,962 for TNY). Piece also notes Time’s 1.2% newsstand gain…Adweek notes large overall circ gains for several gun magazines…MPA chief Mary Berner issued a statement on the AAM data offering the broader context. Points out that AAM’s titles represent roughly a third of the total magazine audience; that AAM reports on 390 titles that have single-copy sales, vs. a U.S. universe of about 7,000 titles; that overall newsstand is about 10% of total magazine circulation. Berner says newsstand trends reflect contraction in traditional retail outlets where magazines are sold, economic weakness, reduced discretionary spending. Notes that 23% (91) AAM titles reported single-copy sales gains; 56% (217 titles) saw subscription gains; and 30% (170 out of total 390) saw increases in total circulation. Also cites stats showing magazine media audiences are growing.

http://www.foliomag.com/2013/alliance-audited-media-s-first-half-report-shows-1-percent-circulation-decrease-across-print-an#.UgKmpbyYyKw

Breaking it Down By The Numbers
Women and family lifestyle titles show the most stable growth potential amongst the top 25 consumer titles. Specifically, Family Fun Magazine grew its total circulation by 7.3 percent.
Spanish language titles continue to uptick in 2013 with both print and digital circulations. For instance, Vanidades expanded its total circulation by 57.2 percent, and its digital subscription base is nearly 15 percent the size of its print circulation. A similar trend is noticeable in many niche and enthusiast titles as well.
The top 25 consumer magazines by digital circulation size are a mixed bag, with Game Informer Magazine leading the way at just under 3 million subscriptions. But the disparity from 1 to 25 is vast, with last-place People only reaching 73,181 digital subscribers. Nevertheless, all or at least most content categories are represented in the top 25, which suggests digital magazines have become appealing to a broad audience.

Top 25 Consumer Magazines in H1

http://www.auditedmedia.com/news/blog/2013/august/the-top-25-us-consumer-magazines-for-june-2013.aspx

Today AAM released its semiannual periodical Snapshot report, which includes top-line print and digital circulation data for all consumer magazine members for the first half of 2013. Below are some highlights from the report. Information about Canadian magazines is available in this post.
Key Stats
For the 390 U.S. consumer magazines reporting comparable paid and verified numbers, total paid and verified circulation was down approximately 1 percent. Paid subscriptions were down 0.1 percent, and single-copy sales decreased by approximately 10 percent.
Digital editions continue to be a small but growing portion of magazines’ total circulation mix, nearly doubling year-over-year. For the first half of 2013, magazines reported a total average of 10.2 million digital replica editions (paid, verified and analyzed nonpaid), or 3.3 percent of total circulation. This compares with 5.4 million digital editions, or 1.7 percent of total circulation, in the first half of 2012.
Top Lists
Below are a few charts pulled from the report — the top 25 U.S. consumer magazines by total paid and verified circulation, single-copy sales, digital replica editions and the top 10 magazines by analyzed nonpaid circulation. Historical charts and data are also available.

Catalog Doctor: Prescriptions for Profitable Pagination

http://www.retailonlineintegration.com/article/prescriptions-profitable-pagination/1

"Doc, my old print catalog staff have retired, and the new young staff don't know catalog techniques like pagination. Can you give me a road map for pagination to share with my staff?"
CATALOG DOCTOR: "I'd be glad to. Pagination is the science of which products go where in the catalog, how to group them and how much space to allocate to each. The goal of pagination is to help guide your customers and prospects to a buying decision. Therefore, keeping your customer in mind while you're building your pagination is crucial, and will help maximize your catalog's sales. Here are definitions and prescriptions for different types of catalogs."

Another Worry for Publiahers

http://adage.com/article/digital/trend-online-publishers-worry/243553/

Last week, the skies opened and online publishers got some great news: according to eMarketer, U.S. adults are poised to spend more time consuming media on their digital devices than their TVs. This, of course, is the moment they've been waiting years for. And while ad dollars don't follow "time spent" in a linear way, the stat gives online some bragging rights and at least another bullet point for the deck when pitching for TV's $70 billion pot.

Magazine Ads #1 in Engaging Affluents

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

report from the Shullman Research Center. However, affluent Millennials engage most with ads on smartphones, and affluent Boomers engage most with ads in newspapers. For ultra-affluent Gen X’ers, magazines rank #1 in both reach and engagement, with 76% of this group seeing these ads in the last 30 days, and 69% being interested in them. For ultra-affluent Boomers, newspaper ads rank #1 in engagement, with 57% being interested in newspaper ads; magazine ads #2, with 53% interest level. 

LuxuryDaily.com

Time Inc. Spin-Off Delayed Until Early 2014

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

During Q2 financials call with analysts, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said that Time Inc.’s  spin-off won’t be completed until early next year, instead of by end of 2013, as originally anticipated. Reasons cited: ensuring the best position for Time Inc. as it becomes independent, and giving its new CEO Joe Ripp (who starts in September) adequate preparation time. TW’s overall Q2 profit topped analysts’ estimates. Time Inc. revenue -3% to $833M; ad revenue -5%; circulation revenue -7%; “other revenues” +23%. Time Inc. operating income +28% to $124M, due mainly to early 2013 restructuring (including about 500 staff layoffs).

Meredith Names Two New Publishers

http://ipdahome.org/newsstand/?cat=296

Meredith has named Alison Adler Matz publisher of More magazine, starting Aug. 25. Matz is currently SVP, strategic brand sales at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Steve Grune named publisher of the new Allrecipes magazine (to launch in mid-November). He was most recently VP, group publisher at Bonnier.   

Amazon: 44% of Book Dollars in 2012

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/online-retailers-gained-while-brick-and-mortar-lost-in-wake-of-borders-exit-2013-08-06

In the year following the exit of Borders from the book retail scene, online retailers -- led by Amazon -- earned 44 percent of Americans' book dollars, up from 39 percent in 2011. The insights into where book buyers are spending come from the 2013 U.S. Book Consumer Demographics and Buying
Behaviors Annual Review, the publishing industry's only complete consumer-based report integrating channel, motivation and category analysis of U.S. book buyers. The Review, an information staple published this month by Bowker® Market Research and industry trade magazine Publishers Weekly, notes that while book retailer Barnes & Noble (including BN.com) remained the second largest bookselling outlet, it depended more on sales of print books in 2012 than it did in 2011, with consumer ebook spending there declining from six percent in 2011 to four percent.

Among the Review's highlights:

Women increased their lead over men in book buying, accounting for 58 percent of overall book spending in 2012, up from 55 percent in 2011. However, men are bigger hardcover buyers - the only area where their buying outpaces women's.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Files IPO

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/publisher-houghton-mifflin-files-ipo-195352367.html

About a year after it emerged from bankruptcy protection, educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is looking to go public.
The parent company, HMH Holdings, on Friday filed for an initial public offering of common stock worth up to $100 million. How much the company actually raises in the IPO is likely to change as the banks managing the offering gauge investor interest.
Houghton Mifflin filed for Chapter 11 in May 2012 after reaching an agreement to eliminate $3.1 billion of its debt. It emerged from bankruptcy protection a month later.