Bloomsbury ends year in line with expectations

Independent publisher Bloomsbury reported preliminary results in line with its expectations on Wednesday, with profit before tax and highlighted items up 9% to £15.7m for the year.

The London-listed firm said revenues for the year ended 29 February increased to £162.8m from £162.7m year-on-year, despite the impact of the Covid-19 coronavirus outbreak on its Chinese sales in January and February.

Profit before tax was ahead 10% at £13.2m, while diluted earnings per share, excluding highlighted items, added 12% to 16.77p.

Diluted earnings per share grew by 13% to 13.84p, the board said.

It said it had net cash of £31.3m at year-end, up 14%, while its cash conversion for the year was 96%, down from 128%, and excluding the acquisition of the rights of Oberon Books.

Subject to shareholder approval, the board proposed bonus issue, in lieu of, and with a value equivalent to, its proposed final dividend of 6.89p per share.

“I am pleased to report a year of further progress at Bloomsbury resulting in 9% growth in profit before tax and highlighted items,” said chief executive officer Nigel Newton.

“Our non-consumer division delivered an excellent result with profit before tax and highlighted items up by 85% to £6.7m, including outstanding revenue growth of 32% from Bloomsbury Digital Resources, which moved into profit this year, and the adult consumer division achieved 77% growth in profit before tax and highlighted items.

“These performances demonstrate the underlying strength and resilience of our diversified, international strategy.”

Over the past five years, Newton said the execution of its strategy had delivered company revenue growth of 32% and profit before tax and highlighted items growth of 21%, with digital revenue as a proportion of total revenue increasing to 15% from 10%.

“Since the year end, the coronavirus pandemic has led to significant disruption across all our key markets,” he added, saying the impact could be “substantial”.

“Orders for print books, which comprised 79% of the Company's revenue for the year ended 29 February 2020, are being affected in all our markets.

“Our UK, US and Australia warehouses remain open and continue supply to customers.

“Our strategy of expanding and leveraging our digital rights and products means that we are well placed to benefit from increased demand for our digital resources, audio and ebooks.”

Newton said there was no immediate certainty around the severity and duration of the impact on Bloomsbury, and thus the board was unable to provide guidance for the year ending 28 February 2021.

“In response to the pandemic, the board has taken swift measures to strengthen Bloomsbury's balance sheet and increase liquidity to ensure we have sufficient working capital to weather the impact of coronavirus and avoid damaging our business in the long-term.”

At 1159 BST, shares in Bloomsbury Publishing were up 3.32% at 218p.