Regulatory announcements

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc today announces results for the six months ended 31 August 2015.

• Turnover: £52.7 million (2014: £46.6 million)
• Adjusted profit before taxation: £1.9 million (2014: £1.7 million)
• Profit before taxation:  £0.3 million (2014: £0.5 million)
• Interim dividend per share: 1.06 pence (2014: 1.02 pence)
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share: 2.06 pence (2014: 1.97 pence)
• Diluted earnings per share: 0.36 pence (2014: 0.56 pence)

Operating highlights

• Children's & Educational
  • Revenue for the period increased by 45% to £16.3 million (2014: £11.2 million)
  • Star performers were Paper Towns by John Green, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Fuzzy Mud by Louis Sachar and the new children's editions of J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter novels
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Illustrated Edition by J.K.Rowling and Jim Kay published on 6 October 2015, with rights now sold in the illustrations to 27 foreign language publishers
    
    
• Adult
  • Revenue increased by 6% to £20.4 million (2014: £19.3 million) including a £3.2 million contribution from Osprey Publishing, which was acquired in December 2014
  • Key titles included Miss Carter's War by Sheila Hancock, Not Quite Nice by Celia Imrie, Chasing the Scream by Johann Hari, Killers of the King by Charles Spencer and The Valley by Richard Benson
  • Cookery list continues to thrive - Spuntino by Russell Norman, Quinntessential Baking by Frances Quinn and Hymns from the Soil: A Vegetarian Saga by Vikas Khanna. In October 2015, Bloomsbury won the Gourmand Award for Best Big Cookbook Publisher in the World for the past 20 years.
    
    
• Academic & Professional
  • Revenue increased by 3% to £14.4 million (2014: £14.0 million)
  • Digital revenues were up by 21% to £2.5 million and now represent 17% of total revenues in the division (2014: 15%)
  • Shortlisted for Academic, Educational and Professional Publisher of the Year at the Bookseller Industry Awards, for the third year in a row
    
    
• Strong list for the second half
  • Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone Illustrated Edition by J. K. Rowling
  • Sweet Caress by William Boyd
  • Tom's Table  by Tom Kerridge
  • River Cottage: Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall
  • Queen of Shadows, the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas
  • John Le Carré: The Biography by Adam Sisman
    
    

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

"This has been a good period for Bloomsbury in both print and digital.

Our Children's and Educational division has delivered an exceptional performance, generating sales that were up 45% on the prior year. Key titles underpinning this growth were the Harry Potter Box Set and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone: Illustrated Edition by J. K. Rowling, Paper Towns by John Green and several titles by Sarah J. Maas.

We have started the second half with a strong publishing list. There is tremendous interest in the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and our list also includes Sweet Caress by William Boyd, Tom's Table by Tom Kerridge, River Cottage: Love Your Leftovers by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, the fourth book in the Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas, Queen of Shadows and the long-awaited John Le Carré: The Biography by Adam Sisman.

Traditionally, sales of trade titles peak for Christmas and sales of academic titles peak in the autumn at the beginning of the academic year. We therefore expect our sales to be significantly second-half weighted, as in the past."

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