Bloomsbury Publishing sees FY profit 'well ahead' of market views

Bloomsbury Publishing said on Friday that full-year revenue and profit are set to beat market expectations thanks to strong trading in the consumer division.

In an update on trading for the year to 28 February, the independent publisher said revenue is on track to be "ahead" and pre-tax profit "well ahead" of market expectations of £161.8m and £12.1m, respectively.

This follows continued strong trading in the consumer division, for both adult and children’s publishing.

Standout bestsellers in the second half to date include the new titles Eat Better Forever by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Outlawed, Joe Biden - American Dreamer and Humankind, as well as strong backlist sales of Harry Potter, Sarah J. Maas, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Such A Fun Age and Dishoom.

The Harry Potter publisher said its academic and professional segment also continues to make good progress. "Our strategy of developing digital resources means we are well placed to benefit from demand from academic institutions during lockdown," it said.

"This excellent performance during the global pandemic is testament to the resilience, initiative and determination of our staff, authors, illustrators, customers, distributors and suppliers, together with the strength of our publishing strategy, supported by our strong financial position," Bloomsbury said.

At 1055 GMT, the shares were up 6.9% at 303.50p.

Investec said: "This performance - once again confounding earlier fears around the impact of the crisis - in our view illustrates the strength of the strategy to continue investing in high-quality content, given consumer demand for this remains extremely resilient.

"From a broader perspective, we believe this applies to the academic & professional division too - management note that it continues to make good progress, and we believe incremental customer demand for its digital resources through the crisis will prove beneficial over the longer-term."