Bloomsbury Publishing ends year in line with expectations

Bloomsbury Publishing issued a pre-close trading update for the 12 months ended 28 February on Tuesday, saying it expected results for the year to be in line with the board's expectations.

The London-listed independent publisher said its non-consumer academic and professional division continued its strong performance, with organic revenue and margin growth, along with the acquisition of I.B. Tauris.

In the special interest division, February included the international bestseller ‘In the Closet of the Vatican’, by Frédéric Martel.

The consumer division was also said to be performing “well”, delivering bestsellers in the second half, including Sarah J. Maas' ‘Kingdom of Ash’, Tom Kerridge's ‘Fresh Start’ and Mary Pipher's ‘Women Rowing North’.

“In addition, the group saw strong cash generation with net cash of around £27m at 28 February,” the Bloomsbury Publishing board said in its statement.

The group said it would report its final results for the year ended 28 February on 21 May.