NEW YORK, April 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP) today reported earnings per diluted share of $0.20 for the first quarterof 2009 compared to $0.25 for the same period last year. Net income for thefirst quarter was $63.0 million versus $81.1 million for the first quarter of2008. Revenue declined 5.7% in the first quarter to $1.1 billion.”The challenging economy, a seasonally slow start in the elementary-highschool business and continued weakness in advertising and the structuredfinance market were important factors in our first quarter decline,” saidHarold McGraw III, chairman, president and chief executive officer of TheMcGraw-Hill Companies. “We benefited from a first quarter surge in investmentgrade corporate issuance, primarily in the industrial sector, substantialgains in the U.S. college and university market and outstanding results fromPlatts in the energy market.

In this economic environment, we continue to keepa tight grip on costs and expenses. Cost containment will be a priority for usall year.Education: “Revenue for this segment declined 5.3% to $312.6 million in thefirst quarter compared to the same period last year. The operating loss forthe period was cut by 15.7% to $76.6 million. Foreign exchange rates reducedrevenue by $13.3 million, but had a favorable impact of $4.8 million onoperating loss for the segment.”Revenue for the McGraw-Hill School Education Group decreased by 11.6% in thefirst quarter to $122.6 million. Reflecting the unfavorable impact of foreignexchange, revenue for the McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Professional andInternational Group was off 0.7% to $190.0 million.”In a seasonally slow period for the elementary-high school market, weexperienced softness in residual products and supplemental materials.Typically, residual and supplementary products represent the majority of firstquarter sales, but in 2009 there was also a year-over-year decline in oursales in North Carolina, the only adoption state that places substantialorders for new products in the first quarter.

Last year, we benefited from astrong performance in North Carolina’s social studies adoption for grades6-12. That success made comparisons more challenging in 2009 because NorthCarolina is spending less to buy materials on health for grades 6-12 and theMcGraw-Hill School Education Group is not taking significant share in thestate’s K-5 math adoption this year.”In testing, we benefited from a gain in revenue for Acuity, our formativeassessment program. Results for custom products also improved, reflectingadditional work in both domestic and international markets. In the”off-the-shelf” category, our assessment program for English-languagelearners, LAS Links, continued to make good progress.”For McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Professional and International Group, asolid first quarter performance in the U.S. college and university market wasoffset by the impact of foreign exchange on international business and reduceddemand at retail in face of a weakening economy.”In the U.S. college and university market, we are seeing higher enrollmentsand a market trend toward later second semester ordering, which shifts moresales from December into the first quarter All our major imprints showedgains in the first quarter. The leading best sellers were:–Sanderson, Computers in the Medical Office, 6th Edition–Booth, Medical Assisting, 3rd Edition–Lucas, The Art of Public Speaking, 10th Edition–McConnell, Economics, 18th Edition–Block, Foundations of Financial Management, 13th Edition.”In both higher education and professional markets, digital products andservices produced double-digit increases in the first quarter.