In the fourth quarter, agreements were signed orrenewed with universities, library consortia, and government agencies in the US,Norway, Japan, China, Brazil, Canada, Greece, Chile, Denmark, and India. STMS Books and ReferencesBook sales and other related income, which account for approximately 17% of STMSrevenue, were up 5% over fiscal year 2008 on a currency neutral basis The totalnumber of books published was up slightly Online book sales rose approximately20% to $10 million. During the fiscal year, Wiley acquired the Arnold statisticsbook program from Hodder Education. The acquisition, which includes over 50titles, complements areas of strength in Wiley`s statistics program, whileproviding growth opportunities.
Wiley InterScienceWiley achieved an important milestone in the early part of fiscal year 2009 bymigrating online journal content, customers, and access licenses fromBlackwell`s Synergy platform to WileyInterScience. The migration includedapproximately 29,000 customers, over two million licenses, and nearly twomillion journal articles. PROFESSIONAL/TRADE (P/T)* Full year and fourth quarter revenue -10% on a currency neutral basis* Full year contribution to profit -27% and fourth quarter contribution toprofit -38% on a currency neutral basisGlobal P/T revenue declined 13% to $413 million in fiscal year 2009 compared to$472 million in the prior year, or a 10% decrease excluding unfavorable foreignexchange. The decline is attributed to a weak retail environment, particularlyin the US Revenue in EMEA and Canada showed modest growth. Direct contribution to profit was $95 million compared to $137 million forfiscal year 2008, reflecting the revenue shortfall, additional inventory, androyalty advance provisions, and a $2.0 million bad debt recovery in the prioryear. The decline was partially mitigated by prudent expense management,principally in advertising, sales, and marketing, as well as lower accruedincentive compensation.
Excluding unfavorable foreign exchange, directcontribution to profit declined 27% from the prior year. For the fourth quarter, global P/T revenue declined 15% to $97 million, or 10%excluding unfavorable foreign exchange. Fourth quarter direct contribution toprofit fell 47% to $17 million, or 38% on a currency neutral basis. The declineis attributed to lower revenue, higher inventory, and royalty advance provisionsand the timing of adjustments to incentive compensation accruals. Notable Alliances in Q4 2009* GMAC/Official Guide to the GMAT: Wiley became the official publisher of theGraduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) study guides in October 2008. InMarch, the 12th edition of the top-selling Official Guide for GMAT Review wasreleased worldwide. It will be followed by The Official Guide for GMAT VerbalReview and The Official Guide for GMAT Quantitative.
* Meredith:In March 2009, as part of its multi-year agreement, Wiley beganpublishing Better Homes and Garden books and other brands such as Family Circle,as well as Food Network TV, Sandra Lee, Rocco DiSpirito, and Tyler Florence. * Kindle (Amazon): Currently, Wiley has over 9,000 P/T books available on theKindle 2. * General Mills: Wiley and General Mills signed an agreement to renew theirpublishing partnership. Under the agreement, Wiley will continue to publish theflagship Betty Crocker "Big Red" cookbook and other cookbooks under the BettyCrocker, Pillsbury, and other General Mills brands. * Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee: Wiley Canada entered into an agreementwith VANOC, becoming the official publication partner of the 2010 Winter Olympicand Paralympics Games in Vancouver/Whistler. In close cooperation with VANOC,Wiley will produce commemorative books, games reports, and custom publications.Online Initiatives* For the fiscal year, Frommers maintained its top position by posting 137million page views and nearly 29 million visits The results were lower thanlast year due to the economy. * Launched in November 2008, the new Dummies generated a total of 29 millionpage views by fiscal year-end, a 23% increase over prior year Eleven millionunique visitors represented a 21% increase Users are spending 17% more time oncontent pages.
The site now boasts 25 topic areas with 250+ pieces of content ineach, 950 fully illustrated step-by-step articles, 6,610 articles, and 265videos. * CliffsNotes recorded year-on-year increases of 5% in page views and 21% inunique visitors.Notable New Titles in Q4 2009* Business and Finance: Steve Zaffron`s and Dave Logan`s The Three Laws ofPerformance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life; JoelComm's Twitter Power, How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time; MartinWeiss' The Ultimate Depression Survival Guide, which sold out its first printrun and has hit USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and New York Times bestsellerlists; and Patricia Crisafulli`s House of Dimon. Wiley Asia published fivebusiness and four finance titles in the fourth quarter. * Psychology: Lenore Skenazy's Free Range Kids: Giving our Children the FreedomWe had without Going Nuts with Worry; Michael Gurian's The Purpose of Boys:Helping Our Sons Find Meaning, Significance and Direction in Their Lives; GaryGroth-Marnat's Handbook of Psychological Assessment,5e; and Richard M. Lerner`s(Tufts University) and Laurence Steinberg`s (Temple University), Handbook ofAdolescent Psychology, 3e(two-volume set) * Technology:Digital Photography For Seniors For Dummies by Mark Justice Hinton;iLife `09 Portable Genius by Guy Hart-Davis; iLife `09; Twitter Tips, Tricks,and Tweets by Paul McFedries; Professional ASP.NET MVC 1.0 by Conery, et al * Consumer: Frommer`s CitySet, an exclusive eBook for the Amazon Kindle, waslaunched in March 2009. CitySet combines 12 Frommer`s city guides into onedownloadable eBook product and is the bestselling Frommer`s eBook.