Regulatory announcements

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc today announces results for the year ended 29 February 2012.

The highlights for the year ended 29 February 2012 include:

• Total turnover up 11.5% to £103.2 million (2011*: £92.6 million)
• Total continuing turnover up 16.9% to £97.4 million (2011*: £83.3 million)
• Continuing pre-tax profit before highlighted items** up 53% to £12.1 million (2011*: £7.9 million)
• Pre-tax profit before highlighted items** up 25.2% to £9.4 million (2011*: £7.5 million)
• Pre-tax profit up 13.6% to £4.8 million (2011*: £4.2 million)
• Total dividend increased by 10.2% to 5.2 pence per share (year to 31.12.10: 4.72 pence per share)
• Continuing basic earnings per share, before highlighted items** up 36% to 13.63 pence (2011*: 10.03 pence)
• Continuing basic earnings per share up 75% to 9.80 pence (2011*: 5.59 pence)

(* and ** see notes below)

Operating highlights

• A Transformational year
  • Acquisition of leading Academic publisher Continuum for net £19.2 million
  • Strong development of intellectual property - Continuing Rights & Services revenue up 88% to £12.6 million (2011*: £6.7 million) demonstrating quality of content, includes partnership with IZA in Germany
  • Sale of loss-making German subsidiary for €2.6 million
• Development of Academic & Professional business
  • Now generates 24% of Continuing Group sales (2011*:17%)
  • Acquisitions of Continuum July 2011 and Fairchild Books April 2012
  • Awarded Supplier of the Year by the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians
  • The Churchill Archive and Drama Online - two major digital publishing initiatives to be launched later this year
• Well placed to benefit from growth of digital sales
  • Huge ebook growth with sales increasing by 159% to £5.7 million (2011*: £2.2 million)
• A diversified portfolio of bestsellers across the Group:
  • A remarkable performance with three novels on the shortlist of six for the 2012 Orange Prize for Fiction: Painter of Silence by Georgina Harding, The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller and State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
  • Strong sales from market-leading cookery list including Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Heston Blumenthal, Raymond Blanc and the Galvin Brothers
  • Four New York Times ebook best sellers: Kitchen Confidential, Prophet's Prey, History of the World in Six Glasses and Salt.
  • New York Times Series Bestseller List - The Perfect Chemistry Trilogy  by Simone Elkeles
  • Eight top ten ebooks at Barnes & Noble and 19 top ten bestsellers in Kindle UK.
  • Top ten ebook bestsellers worldwide for 2011 calendar year were: My Horizontal Life, Kitchen Confidential, The Finkler Question, Eat, Pray, Love, Chain Reaction, Salvage the Bones, Rules of Attraction, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, Prophet's Prey and Pigeon English.
• Strong trade list for 2012
  • Three Good Things by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
  • Mrs Robinson's Disgrace: The Private Diary of a Victorian Lady by Kate Summerscale
  • Waiting for Sunrise by William Boyd
  • Hogwart's LibraryBox Set by JK Rowling
  • Princess Academy: Palace of Stone by Shannon Hale
  • Coraline 10th Anniversary edition by Neil Gaiman and Chris Riddell
  • Zoo Time by Howard Jacobson
  • A Lady Cyclist's Guide to Kashgar by Suzanne Joinson
  • Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies by Ben Macintyre
  • How to Survive The Titanic or The Sinking of J. Bruce Ismay - Frances Wilson

Commenting on the results, Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, said:

"We have enjoyed an extremely successful year, with strong performances across the Group.

2011/12 has been a transformational year for the Group as we continue to see the benefit of our One Global Bloomsbury strategy. The acquisition of Continuum has significantly enhanced our academic business as we continue to focus on robust renewable revenue streams. This area will be a key driver of future growth. We have built a uniquely balanced business between trade and academic publishing.

There is also a fundamental shift happening from print to digital and from the high street to the internet. The decision to digitise our backlist several years ago continues to reap benefits and as a result we have seen significant ebook sales, up 159% year on year.

The business has exciting opportunities for 2012 and beyond as our positioning, platform and industry insights coupled with our strong titles in the UK and US put us in a very healthy position for this dynamic market place. At a time when the traditional books industry is undergoing a revolution, we have built a robust and balanced business with more predictable income streams. Added to this, our highly innovative and entrepreneurial team, strong balance sheet and focused global strategy mean that we can continue to evolve and prosper in this market place."

* The audited statutory results last year were for the fourteen months ended 28 February 2011, following a change in the Company's year-end. All 2011 results referenced here are pro forma unaudited results for the year ended 28 February 2011 and are provided to show a more meaningful comparison of business performance.

**Highlighted items comprise amortisation of intangible assets, acquisition costs, restructuring, relocation costs and the loss on disposal of Bloomsbury Verlag.

Total turnover is turnover for the entire Group i.e. continuing and discontinued operations together.

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