<p>在英國，越來越少的人在閲讀書籍。數據清晰明瞭。</p>
<p>過去二十年，每天在校外閲讀的兒童數量減半，而表示在閒暇時間喜歡閲讀的兒童數量下降了 36%。</p>
<p>在成年人中，閲讀人數也在急劇下降。在去年的 YouGov 調查中，五分之二的人表示他們在過去一年中沒有閲讀或聽過書籍——而在 2001 年，這一比例約為四分之一。</p>
<p>對於 Waterstones 來説，這樣的數據本應引發警報。考慮到高街危機，你可能會認為閲讀的下降會使 Waterstones 等企業面臨被裁員的風險。</p>
<p>然而，英國最大的書商 Waterstones 的氣氛卻完全不是這樣。事實上，Waterstones 的所有者對業務充滿信心，正準備進行數十億英鎊的上市，預計最早將在這個夏天進行。</p>
<p>本月，有消息稱，公司的所有者 Elliott Advisors 已安排 Rothschild 的顧問來處理這一過程。</p>
<p>這傢俬募股權集團正準備將 Waterstones 和其美國兄弟公司 Barnes &amp; Noble 一起上市，作為一個整體業務。</p>
<p>從 Waterstones 的表現來看，Elliott 被認為傾向於選擇倫敦證券交易所進行合併公司的首次亮相。</p>
<p>James Daunt，這位備受讚譽的書商首席執行官，同時也負責 Barnes &amp; Noble，他本人是英國人。</p>
<p>Daunt 曾表示，公司上市是 “不可避免的”。預計在接下來的幾周內將聘請銀行。Elliott 迄今為止拒絕對此過程發表評論。</p>
<p>所有這些都引發了一個問題：當越來越多的人放棄書籍時，Elliott 為何對 Waterstones 如此有信心？</p>
<p>Daunt 堅稱，儘管購買書籍的人羣較小，但書籍銷售依然強勁。</p>
<p>“閲讀下降的故事顯然與書籍購買沒有相關性，” 他説。“出版商和獨立書商，以及我們自己，在美國和英國都表現良好。”</p>
<p>數據支持了他的觀點。儘管高街遭遇了一系列零售崩潰和商店關閉，英國獨立書商的數量去年略有上升。</p>
<p>Barnes &amp; Noble 和 Waterstones 去年共盈利 4 億美元（3 億英鎊），銷售額達到 30 億美元。</p>
<p>儘管 Barnes &amp; Noble 面臨與 Waterstones 相同的閲讀人數下降問題，但佛羅里達大學在 8 月份的一項研究發現，過去 20 年中，享受閲讀的美國人數量下降了 40%。</p>
<p>官方賬目顯示，截至 5 月 3 日的 12 個月內，Waterstones 的銷售額上升至 5.656 億英鎊，而一年前為 5.284 億英鎊。該公司在這一年中實現了 4000 萬英鎊的税前利潤。</p>
<p>Daunt 表示，2025 年將是 “對我們來説的一個美好年份”，美國和英國的業務都在向新領域擴展。</p>
<p>Barnes &amp; Noble 開設了 67 家新店，而 Waterstones 每年增加約 10 家新店，儘管由於其已經非常成熟，擴張變得更加困難。</p>
<p>自 2011 年起管理 Waterstones，自 2018 年起管理 Barnes &amp; Noble 的 Daunt 將他的成功歸因於 “建立原則並推動事物朝着你想要的方向發展”。</p>
<p>“我們只是簡單地試圖讓商店裏的顧客體驗更輕鬆、更好，” 他曾告訴《每日電訊報》。</p>
<p>這包括標準化培訓指南以培訓員工，並給予經理 “在書籍重新訂購和擺放方面的完全自主權”。這使他們能夠更容易地響應當地讀者的口味。</p>
<p>Waterstones 和 Barnes &amp; Noble 看似健康，但説服投資者在其上市時購買該業務可能並不那麼簡單。</p>
<p>投資者曾因過去在倫敦上市的私募股權支持公司而遭受損失。金融界的老手們仍然對 2021 年的一批企業感到遺憾——這一組企業表現慘淡。</p>
<p>在線傢俱公司 Made.com 最終破產，Dr Martens 的股價崩潰，如今的市值約為其上市價格的五分之一，而 Deliveroo 則經歷了歷史上最糟糕的首次亮相，首日交易中股價暴跌 30%。</p>
<p>自那以來，倫敦的零售首次亮相非常少。</p>
<p>投資者將對 Elliott 及其顧問可能高估公司的情況保持警惕，特別是如果銷售增長似乎主要來自新店開張而非市場增長。</p>
<p>Panmure Liberum 的分析師 Anubhav Malhotra 表示，投資者非常清楚 “過去的 IPO 表現不佳”。因此，倫敦的估值普遍下降，尤其是在零售股票中。</p>
<p>接近 Waterstones 的消息人士淡化了這些挑戰，並指出在倫敦市場上有許多零售商表現良好，例如 Next 和 M&amp;S。他們認為這兩家連鎖店還有很多未開發的市場空間。</p>
<p>此外，儘管整體閲讀可能在下降，但在某些羣體中仍然非常受歡迎。</p>
<p>Waterstones 最近表示，它受益於對 “浪漫奇幻” 小説的需求增長——這種小説在口語中被稱為 “童話色情”。</p>
<p>這些關於女主角被騎士和巫師追求的奇幻故事在英國女性中獲得了大量粉絲。</p>
<p>《荊棘之冠與玫瑰》的作者 Sarah J Maas 在全球售出了超過 7500 萬本書。出版商 Bloomsbury 表示，Maas 書籍的需求幫助其實現了歷史上最高的上半年銷售和收益。</p>
<p>據悉，Elliott 計劃在市場首次亮相後，繼續作為合併後的書店業務的最大股東一段時間，這可能會讓新投資者對其未來更加有信心。</p>
<p>一位銀行消息人士表示，現在是 Elliott 啓動 Waterstones 上市流程並實現投資回報的好時機。</p>
<p>“一切都糟透了，” 他們説。“但這不會很快改變，私募股權的回報如此之少，如果他們能做到，可能應該這樣做。”</p>
<p>對於 Daunt 來説，他的重點仍然是日常運營。在過去的一週裏，他一直在美國西海岸旅行，拜訪 Barnes &amp; Noble 的商店。儘管美國和英國的讀者人數都在下降，Daunt 表示商店依然蓬勃發展。</p>
<p>“目前書店業務非常活躍，” 他説。</p>
<p>不久他將發現投資者是否同意這一觀點。</p>

BNED.RTS

<p>英國最大的書商 Waterstones 正在準備進行數十億英鎊的股票市場上市，儘管公眾閲讀量有所下降。儘管調查顯示閲讀人數減少，Waterstones 報告稱銷售額增長至 5.656 億英鎊，税前利潤為 4000 萬英鎊。首席執行官 James Daunt 將成功歸因於適應當地口味和擴展業務，Waterstones 和 Barnes & Noble 均在開設新店。然而，由於市場上類似公司的過去表現不佳，投資者信心可能會謹慎</p>

<p>Across Britain, fewer and fewer people are reading books. The data are plain as day.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>在英國，越來越少的人在閲讀書籍。數據清晰明瞭。</p>
</div><p>The number of children who read outside of school every day has halved over the past two decades, while the number of children who say they enjoy reading in their spare time is down by 36pc.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>過去二十年，每天在校外閲讀的兒童數量減半，而表示在閒暇時間喜歡閲讀的兒童數量下降了 36%。</p>
</div><p>Among adults, reading numbers are also in freefall. In a YouGov survey last year, two in five people said they had not read or listened to a book in the past year – compared with around a quarter of adults in 2001.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>在成年人中，閲讀人數也在急劇下降。在去年的 YouGov 調查中，五分之二的人表示他們在過去一年中沒有閲讀或聽過書籍——而在 2001 年，這一比例約為四分之一。</p>
</div><p>For Waterstones, figures such as these would be expected to raise alarm bells. With the high street in crisis, you would think the decline of reading would put businesses such as Waterstones next in line to face the chop.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>對於 Waterstones 來説，這樣的數據本應引發警報。考慮到高街危機，你可能會認為閲讀的下降會使 Waterstones 等企業面臨被裁員的風險。</p>
</div><p>Yet the mood is anything but sombre at Britain’s biggest bookseller. In fact, Waterstones’ owners are so confident in the business that they are gearing up for a multibillion-pound stock market listing, with a float expected as soon as this summer.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>然而，英國最大的書商 Waterstones 的氣氛卻完全不是這樣。事實上，Waterstones 的所有者對業務充滿信心，正準備進行數十億英鎊的上市，預計最早將在這個夏天進行。</p>
</div><p>This month, it emerged that Elliott Advisors, the company’s owner, had lined up advisors at Rothschild to work on the process.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>本月，有消息稱，公司的所有者 Elliott Advisors 已安排 Rothschild 的顧問來處理這一過程。</p>
</div><p>The private equity group is preparing to list both Waterstones and its US cousin Barnes &amp; Noble together as one business.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>這傢俬募股權集團正準備將 Waterstones 和其美國兄弟公司 Barnes &amp; Noble 一起上市，作為一個整體業務。</p>
</div><p>In a sign of just how well Waterstones appears to be doing, Elliott is understood to be leaning towards the London Stock Exchange for a debut of the combined company.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>從 Waterstones 的表現來看，Elliott 被認為傾向於選擇倫敦證券交易所進行合併公司的首次亮相。</p>
</div><p>James Daunt, the bookseller’s lauded chief executive who also runs Barnes &amp; Noble, is himself a Briton.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>James Daunt，這位備受讚譽的書商首席執行官，同時也負責 Barnes &amp; Noble，他本人是英國人。</p>
</div><p>Daunt has previously described a stock market float of the company as “inevitable”. Banks are expected to be hired in the coming weeks. Elliott has so far declined to comment on the process.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>Daunt 曾表示，公司上市是 “不可避免的”。預計在接下來的幾周內將聘請銀行。Elliott 迄今為止拒絕對此過程發表評論。</p>
</div><p>All this begs the question: why is Elliott so confident in Waterstones when more and more of us are giving up on books?</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>所有這些都引發了一個問題：當越來越多的人放棄書籍時，Elliott 為何對 Waterstones 如此有信心？</p>
</div><p>Daunt insists that book sales remain strong, even if it is a smaller pool of people who are buying.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>Daunt 堅稱，儘管購買書籍的人羣較小，但書籍銷售依然強勁。</p>
</div><p>“Stories of declines in reading evidently do not correlate to book buying,” he says. “Publishers and independent booksellers, as well as ourselves, are all doing well in both the US and the UK.”</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>“閲讀下降的故事顯然與書籍購買沒有相關性，” 他説。“出版商和獨立書商，以及我們自己，在美國和英國都表現良好。”</p>
</div><p>The figures back him up. The number of independent booksellers across the UK rose slightly last year, even as the high street was struck by a series of retail collapses and store closures.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>數據支持了他的觀點。儘管高街遭遇了一系列零售崩潰和商店關閉，英國獨立書商的數量去年略有上升。</p>
</div><p>Between them, Barnes &amp; Noble and Waterstones made a profit of $400m (£300m) last year, with sales standing at $3bn.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>Barnes &amp; Noble 和 Waterstones 去年共盈利 4 億美元（3 億英鎊），銷售額達到 30 億美元。</p>
</div><p>That is despite Barnes &amp; Noble facing the same problem with declining reading numbers as Waterstones. A study by the University of Florida in August found that the number of Americans reading for pleasure had plunged by 40pc over the past 20 years.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>儘管 Barnes &amp; Noble 面臨與 Waterstones 相同的閲讀人數下降問題，但佛羅里達大學在 8 月份的一項研究發現，過去 20 年中，享受閲讀的美國人數量下降了 40%。</p>
</div><p>Official accounts show that Waterstones’ sales rose to £565.6m for the 12 months to May 3, compared with £528.4m a year earlier, according to documents published on Companies House this week. It made pre-tax profits of £40m for the year.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>官方賬目顯示，截至 5 月 3 日的 12 個月內，Waterstones 的銷售額上升至 5.656 億英鎊，而一年前為 5.284 億英鎊。該公司在這一年中實現了 4000 萬英鎊的税前利潤。</p>
</div><p>Daunt, who runs both booksellers, described 2025 as a “fantastic year for us”, with both the US and UK businesses expanding into new areas.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>Daunt 表示，2025 年將是 “對我們來説的一個美好年份”，美國和英國的業務都在向新領域擴展。</p>
</div><p>Barnes &amp; Noble opened 67 new stores while Waterstone is adding around 10 new shops a year, even though expansion is harder given it is so well-established.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>Barnes &amp; Noble 開設了 67 家新店，而 Waterstones 每年增加約 10 家新店，儘管由於其已經非常成熟，擴張變得更加困難。</p>
</div><p>Daunt – who has run Waterstones since 2011 and Barnes &amp; Noble since 2018 – puts his success down to “establishing principles and nudging things in the direction you want it to go”.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>自 2011 年起管理 Waterstones，自 2018 年起管理 Barnes &amp; Noble 的 Daunt 將他的成功歸因於 “建立原則並推動事物朝着你想要的方向發展”。</p>
</div><p>“We’re just simply trying to make it easier and better for the people in the shops,” he previously told The Telegraph.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>“我們只是簡單地試圖讓商店裏的顧客體驗更輕鬆、更好，” 他曾告訴《每日電訊報》。</p>
</div><p>This includes standardising guides to train up staff and giving managers “complete autonomy in terms of reordering of books and placement of books”. This allows them to more easily respond to the tastes of local readers.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>這包括標準化培訓指南以培訓員工，並給予經理 “在書籍重新訂購和擺放方面的完全自主權”。這使他們能夠更容易地響應當地讀者的口味。</p>
</div><p>Waterstones and Barnes &amp; Noble may appear to be in rude health – but convincing investors to buy into the business when it joins the stock market may not be so straightforward.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>Waterstones 和 Barnes &amp; Noble 看似健康，但説服投資者在其上市時購買該業務可能並不那麼簡單。</p>
</div><p>Investors have been burned by private equity-backed companies that listed in London in the past. City veterans still talk ruefully about the class of 2021 – a group of businesses that performed hideously.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>投資者曾因過去在倫敦上市的私募股權支持公司而遭受損失。金融界的老手們仍然對 2021 年的一批企業感到遺憾——這一組企業表現慘淡。</p>
</div><p>Online furniture business Made.com ultimately collapsed into administration, Dr Martens suffered a share price collapse and is today worth around a fifth of its float price and Deliveroo endured the worst debut in history, with shares tumbling as much as 30pc on the first day of trading.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>在線傢俱公司 Made.com 最終破產，Dr Martens 的股價崩潰，如今的市值約為其上市價格的五分之一，而 Deliveroo 則經歷了歷史上最糟糕的首次亮相，首日交易中股價暴跌 30%。</p>
</div><p>London has seen very few new retail debuts on the stock market in the years since.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>自那以來，倫敦的零售首次亮相非常少。</p>
</div><p>Investors will be wary of Elliott and its advisers overvaluing the company, particularly if it appears that much of the sales growth is coming from store openings rather than a growing market.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>投資者將對 Elliott 及其顧問可能高估公司的情況保持警惕，特別是如果銷售增長似乎主要來自新店開張而非市場增長。</p>
</div><p>Anubhav Malhotra, a Panmure Liberum analyst, says investors are very aware that “past IPOs haven’t worked out too well”. Valuations have come down “across the board” in London as a result, especially among retail stocks.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>Panmure Liberum 的分析師 Anubhav Malhotra 表示，投資者非常清楚 “過去的 IPO 表現不佳”。因此，倫敦的估值普遍下降，尤其是在零售股票中。</p>
</div><p>Sources close to Waterstones downplay these challenges and point to the fact that there are plenty of retailers doing well on the London market, such as Next and M&amp;S. They argue that there is room for growth with plenty of territory yet to be conquered by both chains.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>接近 Waterstones 的消息人士淡化了這些挑戰，並指出在倫敦市場上有許多零售商表現良好，例如 Next 和 M&amp;S。他們認為這兩家連鎖店還有很多未開發的市場空間。</p>
</div><p>Also, while reading may be declining overall, it continues to be hugely popular among certain groups.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>此外，儘管整體閲讀可能在下降，但在某些羣體中仍然非常受歡迎。</p>
</div><p>Waterstones recently said it had been boosted by growing demand for “romantasy” novels – known colloquially as fairy porn.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>Waterstones 最近表示，它受益於對 “浪漫奇幻” 小説的需求增長——這種小説在口語中被稱為 “童話色情”。</p>
</div><p>These fantastical tales of heroines being swept off their feet by knights and wizards have gained huge numbers of fans among British women.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>這些關於女主角被騎士和巫師追求的奇幻故事在英國女性中獲得了大量粉絲。</p>
</div><p>Sarah J Maas, author of romantasy novel A Court of Thorns and Roses, has sold more than 75 million copies of her books globally. Publisher Bloomsbury said demand for Maas’s books helped it to the highest first-half sales and earnings in its history last year.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>《荊棘之冠與玫瑰》的作者 Sarah J Maas 在全球售出了超過 7500 萬本書。出版商 Bloomsbury 表示，Maas 書籍的需求幫助其實現了歷史上最高的上半年銷售和收益。</p>
</div><p>Elliott is understood to be planning to remain as the biggest shareholder in the combined bookselling business for some time following the market debut, which may give new investors more confidence in its future.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>據悉，Elliott 計劃在市場首次亮相後，繼續作為合併後的書店業務的最大股東一段時間，這可能會讓新投資者對其未來更加有信心。</p>
</div><p>One banking source suggested now was as good a time as any for Elliott to kick off the process of listing Waterstones on the stock market and realising some return on its investment.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>一位銀行消息人士表示，現在是 Elliott 啓動 Waterstones 上市流程並實現投資回報的好時機。</p>
</div><p>“Everything is a bit s--t,” they said. “But that’s not going to change anytime soon and there have been so few returns back on private equity that if they can, they probably should.”</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>“一切都糟透了，” 他們説。“但這不會很快改變，私募股權的回報如此之少，如果他們能做到，可能應該這樣做。”</p>
</div><p>For Daunt, his focus continues to be on the day-to-day. Over the past week, he has been travelling down the west coast of the US to visit Barnes &amp; Noble shops. Despite falling reader numbers across both the US and UK, Daunt says stores are thriving.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>對於 Daunt 來説，他的重點仍然是日常運營。在過去的一週裏，他一直在美國西海岸旅行，拜訪 Barnes &amp; Noble 的商店。儘管美國和英國的讀者人數都在下降，Daunt 表示商店依然蓬勃發展。</p>
</div><p>“Bookselling is presently vibrant,” he says.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>“目前書店業務非常活躍，” 他説。</p>
</div><p>Soon he will find out if investors agree.</p>
<div class="lb-trans"><p>不久他將發現投資者是否同意這一觀點。</p>
</div>

儘管圖書閲讀量在下降，Waterstones 為何還能實現增長？