Bloomsbury Publishing upgrades FY expectations after strong first half

Bloomsbury Publishing surged on Thursday as it upgraded its full-year expectations following record first-half profit and revenue.

In results for the six months to the end of August, the Harry Potter publisher said pre-tax profit rose 58% to £22.1m, while revenue was 32% higher at £179.8m.

In the consumer division, revenue rose 47% to £131.3m. Bloomsbury pointed to the continued success of its authors in the fantasy genre, particularly Sarah J. Maas, alongside a wide range of other bestsellers. Sarah J. Maas' sales grew by 102%.

Meanwhile, the non-consumer segment saw a 3% increase in revenue to £48.5m.

As a result of its "strong" performance in the first half, Bloomsbury now expects trading for full year 2024/25 to be ahead of current consensus expectations for revenue of £319.3m and pre-tax profit of £37.5m.

Chief executive Nigel Newton said: "Bloomsbury's strong results reflect implementation of the recently announced Bloomsbury 2030 vision, focused on our growth, portfolio and people.

"We have acquired Rowman & Littlefield, significantly strengthening our academic portfolio. We have been awarded the Great Place to Work CertificationTM recognising the motivation and commitment of the people who work at Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury was admitted to the FTSE 250 on 1 August. Finally, we have risen to be the 39th largest publisher in the world up from 51st in 2020 according to the recent Global Publishing Ranking league table."

At 0855 BST, the shares were up 7.7% at 734.64p.