Lagardère’s global publishing division, the company that owns the Hachette Book Group, reported €601 million in net sales for the third quarter of 2011, which was down 5.2 percent compared to the same period in 2010.

The company attributed the drop in sales to the rise in eBook sales with a lower margin, as well as to retail problems in English-speaking countries including Borders closing in the U.S. and REDGroup’s bankruptcy in Australia.

The digital book business is continuing to grow however. eBookNewser has more: “According to the company, eBooks now represent 21 percent of HBG’s net sales, which is up from 9 percent of net sales for Q3 2010. This is a 134 percent growth over total eBook sales in 2010.”

Books that did well for Hachette during the quarter include: James Patterson’s Now You See Her and Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life; Joel Osteen’s Every Day A Friday; and Sandra Brown’s Lethal.

Hachette also saw growth in the quarter in France in the General Literature category. In addition, Hachette Livre’s education business performed well in France, Spain and Mexico.