The Shandong Xinhua Bookstore Group recently held its annual financial conference to review its performance in 2009, and executives of the Group said at the meeting that the group’s sales in 2009 may have exceeded 7 billion yuan (or US$1 billion) and year-to-year profit may have increased 3%-5%.

Liu Qiang, the Group chairman, said that total sales at Shandong’s Xinhua bookstores were 6.366 billion yuan (US$922 million) for the first 11 months of 2009, which was 198 million yuan (US$29 million) or 3.2% more than the same period a year earlier. By the end of October 2009, 12 out of 17 branches have reported sales growth from the previous year, and 11 have reported year-on-year profit growth.

The exclusive supply contract for 2009 textbooks in Shandong Province expired, which caused new business uncertainties. The Group worked hard and renewed the exclusive supply contract by accepting a 3% discount on pricing for another two years (from the fall of 2009 to the spring of 2011), which the group has consolidated its position in the textbook distribution market segment.

The Book Expo and Library Distribution Fair in Shandong Province also partly helped Shandong Xinhua. Total orders amounted to 71 million yuan (US$10.4 million) during the library fair (including the Qingtao Store), and actual shipments were valued at 40.2 million yuan (US$5.9 million) -- excluding Jinan and Qingdao), including 22.4 million yuan (US$3.9 million) in Shandong and 17.81 million yuan (US$2.6 million) for other areas in China. The turnover marked a new record high for the library fair.

In 2009, Shandong Xinhua and Hebei Xinhua held a joint book fair, and the group’s chain-store office alone receiving 31 million yuan (US$4.5 million) in orders. The case showed Shandong Xinhua aggressive attitude toward book sales. The Group also enhanced the promotion of key titles, as it sold more than 1,200 encyclopedia within five months, and actively participated in community reading activities to promote sales of general books. The chain-store operations department of the Group reported 400 million yuan (US$58.6 million) in sales by the end of October, an increase of 10% from a year earlier. In addition, the Group’s logistics center is about to complete construction and will be put into operation in 2010.

Shandong Xinhua has also reported impressive results as it sold over 200 navigation instruments in one month with total sales of 300,000 yuan (US$44,000) . These non-book products are gradually becoming new profit sources for the group.