May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Harry Potter, who has made author J.K. Rowling rich, has hardly worked magic lately at Scholastic Corp., Rowling's U.S. publisher.

Since April 2002, Scholastic stock has sputtered faster than a hexed Nimbus 2000 broom. Shares of the New York-based publisher tumbled 48 percent to $28.93 on Friday, from a record $55.53 in April 2002.

As the bespectacled young wizard and his Hogwarts pals return to the big screen on June 4 in ``Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,'' Scholastic is struggling to sell the five Potter books. Its revenue from the series has fallen the past three fiscal years, sliding to $50 million in fiscal 2003 from $200 million in fiscal 2001. The books accounted for 2.6 percent of 2003 sales, down from 10 percent in 2001.

Lately, some bookstores have been returning Scholastic's books and buying fewer of its old titles. The company reported an unexpected $6 million loss for the quarter ended Feb. 29. Standard & Poor's subsequently reduced its credit rating to BBB- from BBB, saying Scholastic was unlikely to pull itself into the black soon.

The new movie, from Time Warner Inc., is unlikely to spur Potter sales in bookstores. One reason: ``Azkaban'' was published in 1999, and many kids have already read it. Plus, Rowling has written two books since.

``Interest falls off pretty quickly,'' says Peter Appert, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Scholastic raked in $170 million in sales in two months from ``Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,'' published in June 2003. S&P frets the publisher is too dependent on Potter.

Harry fans needn't despair: Rowling is already planning the sixth of what will be seven Potter books. No publication date has been set.

To contact the reporter on this story: Aimee Picchi in New York apicchi@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 9, 2004 10:50 EDT