Regulatory announcements

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc confirms that the following documents are being sent to shareholders and, pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.1, are being submitted to the National Storage Mechanism and will be available for inspection at http://www.hemscott.com/nsm.do:

• Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 28 February 2017
• Notice of the 2017 Annual General Meeting
• Form of Proxy

The Annual Report and Accounts and Notice of the 2017 AGM can be found on the Company's website at www.bloomsbury-ir.co.uk.

In accordance with Disclosure and Transparency Rule 6.3.5, a responsibility statement, a description of the principal risks and uncertainties and details of related party transactions are set out below in full unedited text extracted from the Annual Report and Accounts for the period ended 28 February 2017. The text below should be read in conjunction with the Company's final results for the period ended 28 February 2017 which were announced in unedited full text on 18 May 2017.

Enquiries:

Michael Daykin
Group Company Secretary
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Telephone +44(0)20 7631 5627

DIRECTORS' RESPONSIBILITIES STATEMENT

(From page 40 of the Directors' Report of the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 28 February 2017)

Statement of Directors' responsibilities

The Directors are responsible for preparing the Annual Report and the Group and parent Company financial statements in accordance with applicable law and regulations.

Company law requires the Directors to prepare Group and parent Company financial statements for each financial year. Under that law they are required to prepare the Group financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards("IFRSs") as adopted by the European Union ("EU") and applicable law and have elected to prepare the parent Company financial statements on the same basis.

Under company law the Directors must not approve the financial statements unless they are satisfied that they give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Group and parent Company and of their profit or loss for that period.

In preparing each of the Group and parent Company financial statements, the Directors are required to:

• select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
• make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent;
• state whether they have been prepared in accordance with IFRSs as adopted by the EU; and
• prepare the financial statements on the going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Group and the parent Company will continue in business.

The Directors are responsible for keeping adequate accounting records that are sufficient to show and explain the parent Company's transactions and disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the parent Company and enable them to ensure that its financial statements comply with the Companies Act 2006. They have general responsibility for taking such steps as are reasonably open to them to safeguard the assets of the Group and to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities.

Under applicable law and regulations, the Directors are also responsible for preparing a Strategic Report, Directors' Report, Directors' Remuneration Report and Corporate Governance Statement that complies with that law and those regulations.

The Directors are responsible for the maintenance and integrity of the corporate and financial information included on the Company's website, www.bloomsbury-ir.co.uk. Legislation in the United Kingdom ("UK") governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
We consider the Annual Report and accounts, taken as a whole, is fair, balanced and understandable and provides the information necessary for Shareholders to assess the Group's position and performance, business model and strategy.

Responsibility statement of the Directors in respect of the annual financial report

We confirm that to the best of our knowledge:

• the financial statements, prepared in accordance with the applicable set of accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit or loss of the Company and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole; and
• the Directors' Report includes a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the issuer and the undertakings included in the consolidation taken as a whole, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties that they face.

Legislation in the UK governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.

By order of the Board

PRINCIPAL RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES

From pages 24 to 26 of the Risk Factors of the Company's Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 28 February 2017.

The table below provides a description of risk factors that management considers relevant to the Group's business. Other factors besides those listed could also affect the Group.

During the financial year ended 28 February 2017, the Principal Risks have not changed substantially. The launch of the Bloomsbury 2020 digital resource growth strategy increases the focus on developing the sales of digital resources, which changes the significance rather than the nature of the risk labelled as "Growth of digital".

Brexit risks

The risks relating to Britain's exit of the European Union ("EU") are not considered Principal Risks to Bloomsbury. Bloomsbury is exposed to fluctuations in the value of sterling, in particular:

• a substantial proportion of sales are made outside the UK mainly in US dollars; and
• paper for printed books is sourced outside the UK so the price paid in sterling depends on the value of sterling.

Each of these factors tends to negate the other over time albeit Bloomsbury's paper purchase contracts typically fix the price for a period of time, which delays the full financial impact of exchange rate movements being reflected in the Income Statement. The business has capacity to adapt to longer term changes in exchange rates by shifting its focus between different global regions in the selection of works to publish, through marketing efforts and in the location of where it employs staff. The level of sales into Continental Europe are minor to Bloomsbury's Group revenue. Whilst there is uncertainty as to whether Brexit will positively or negatively impact on Bloomsbury's EU sales, Brexit is not expected to have a major impact on Bloomsbury.

RELATED PART TRANSACTIONS

(From the Notes to the Consolidated and Company Financial Statements for the year ended 28 February 2017)

(Extract from Note 25)

25. Related party transactions

As at 28 February 2017 the Group owed £32,000 to Faber & Faber, a company in which a Bloomsbury Director shares a common directorship. Key management remuneration is disclosed in note 5

(Extract from Note 5)

The Group considers key management personnel as defined under IAS 24 'Related Party Disclosures' to be the Executive Directors of the Company and those Directors of the global divisions, major geographic regions and departments who are actively involved in strategic decision-making. Full details concerning individual Directors' remuneration are set out in the audited part of the Directors' Remuneration Report on pages 50 to 67. The total remuneration of the Directors was £2,163,000 (2016: £1,508,000).

Total emoluments for Executive Directors and other key management personnel were: Total emoluments for Executive Directors and other key management personnel were:

(Extract from Note 43)

43. Related Parties

Trading transactions

During the year the Company entered into the following transactions and had the following balances with its subsidiaries:

All amounts outstanding are unsecured and will be settled in cash. No provisions have been made for doubtful debts in respect of the amounts owed by subsidiaries.

Key management remuneration is disclosed in note 5.

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