The Times Media Group (TMG) has announced it has begun a sales process for two of its brands in its book divisions, namely Exclusive Books and Van Schaik.
Exclusive Books said in February its online retail division, Exclus1ve will be shutting down various channels, which include games, music and films, in order to focus on books, which is described as its core strength.
TMG plans to reduce central costs of its head office through restructuring, in order to bring about the appropriate cost base across its divisions.
TMG said today that the overall revenue increased to ZAR3.2 billion (US$342 million) last year from ZAR3 billion (US$331 million) in 2011, though profit sourced from operations decreased to ZAR77 million (US$8.3 million) from ZAR191 million (US$20.7 million).
“All four divisions within TMG (media, retail solutions, books and entertainment) face challenging and evolving markets. Our first objective has been to identify those divisions where we have critical mass, strong market share and solid brands, and successfully position them for the future,” said TMG in a statement.
TMG added: “It is our view that we need to focus on those divisions where we have the ability to generate positive returns on the capital invested, and enable a swift turnaround.”
TMG said they “have already embarked on the sale of the various companies that make up these two divisions (books and entertainment)”, which includes Exclusive Books, Van Schaik and Random House Struik.
However, the book retail businesses of both Exclusive Books and Van Schaik reportedly did well considering the tough market and TMG noted Van Schaik, the textbook retailer, recorded good growth. “We have, however, begun the sale process for Van Schaik and Exclusive Books,” said TMG.
“Across the group, all businesses have been reviewed and their non-core assets identified for sale. The sales will be performed in a responsible manner and will take into account the various stakeholder interests including those of employees, customers and suppliers. All sales will ensure interests including those of employees, customers and suppliers. All sales will ensure that the group receives fair value.”
Publications such as The Times, Sunday Times, Sowetan and Times Live hold strong positions within TMG and generate satisfactory profit.
