Frederick Warne is industry favourite

The UK book publishing industry is in the bottom 25% of all UK industries in terms of business efficiency, according to the latest research. But a discrepancy has been identified between the top 50 "lean" book publishers, which make the most efficient use of capital, and the remaining 944 businesses analysed.

The report, Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis: Book Publishers, took an average of the assets-to-sales ratio and the assets-to-pretax profit ratio for 994 book publishers. The top 50 were found to be three times more efficient than the rest of the industry, with Frederick Warne, Penguin's classic children's publishing and merchandising group which publishes Beaxtrix Potter, coming out top of the list. Number two was another children's publisher, Egmont, while the rest of the top 50 included a range of publishers of vastly different sizes, with an emphasis on educational and professional publishing.

"It's not always clear what the magic is, but those in the top 50 are obviously doing something right," David Patterson, Plimsoll manager, said. "They must run a tight stock—the best businesses are lean selling machines. Lots of companies in the book publishing industry are not doing justice to investments."

The radio industry came out as the best business to be in, promising the highest return on investments, while hotels scored the worst.