Augsburg Fortress sales ahead of expectations

Augsburg Fortress, Publishers, is more than $1 million ahead of its 2005 sales forecast through September, the board of trustees learned when it met Oct. 14-15 in Minneapolis. The news is a significant departure from past financial reports. In recent years trustees were often told of losses because the ELCA publisher wasn’t able to achieve its financial goals.

Actual sales were $28.9 million through September, compared to a forecast of $27.8 million for 2005. Financial results for the first nine months of 2005 compared to the first nine months of last year show at least a $2 million improvement, said John Rahja, Augsburg Fortress chief financial officer.