Bloomsbury grows underlying profit as adult books fly off shelves

Bloomsbury Publishing grew underlying profits 13% in the first half of its financial year as revenues were boosted by books by Kamila Shamsie, Anthony Bourdain and continued sales of 'Harry Potter' books.

Total revenue in the six months to 31 August of £75.3m were up 4% on the same period last year, with expectations of a traditionally stronger second half as consumer titles peak for Christmas and academic titles get a boost from the start of the academic year in September.

In the first half of the year, consumer book sales grew 5% to £47m with an operating profit before highlighted items up 8% to £3.1m. Books for adults increased revenues 22%, as part of the turnaround plans in the division, while children's sales were flat at £31.1m, or down 9% if excluding Harry Potter books, with two releases from Sarah J. Maas in the period compared to four last year.

In non-consumer, academic & professional revenues grew 9% to £18m, with an adjusted operating loss of £0.3m.

Group reported profit before taxation fell to £1.6m from £1.7m a year ago, but excluding amortisation major one-off costs, PBT grew 13% to £2.9m. Diluted earnings per share, excluding those same items, grew by 12% to 3.14p.

The April acquisition of academic publisher IB Tauris cost £5.8m but is expected to deliver £3.5m of revenue and £0.3m of profit for the full year.

Bloomsbury finished the half with net cash of £16.9m, virtually unchanged since over the year.

Chief executive Nigel Newton hailed the growth in each territory, and said the results demonstrate "the underlying strength, resilience and further potential of our strategy".

He pointed to new "strong titles" for the second half include 'Fresh Start' by Tom Kerridge, 'Kingdom of Ash' by Sarah J Maas, the illustrated version of 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' by JK Rowling and two new books from Peter Frankopan, 'The Illustrated Silk Roads' and 'The New Silk Roads'.

He said the academic & professional division continues to benefit from a strategic growth initiative to accelerate digital revenues and become a leading publisher in the B2B academic and professional market.

"Announced today, our new five-year subscription deal with the ICAEW, the very prestigious worldwide accountancy body, demonstrates strong ongoing demand for our online tax services."