Regulatory announcements

Revenue comfortably ahead and profit materially ahead of expectations

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMY), the leading independent publisher, is pleased to announce the following update on trading.

Revenue is now expected to be comfortably ahead and profit before taxation and highlighted items materially ahead of current market expectations* for the year ending 29 February 2024. This follows exceptionally strong trading in the Consumer division for a number of titles and particularly Sarah J. Maas’ 15 titles. Bloomsbury has published all of Sarah J. Maas’ books throughout the world and has seen excellent growth in the backlist. The Non-Consumer division continues to trade in line with current expectations.

Other important bestsellers in the Consumer division in the second half of the year to date include Ghosts, the companion book to the BBC television series, Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Air Fryer Cookbook by Poppy O’Toole, Pub Kitchen by Tom Kerridge, The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng in the US, the Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, the official companion to J.K. Rowling’s books, We’re Going on a Sleigh Ride by Martha Mumford and Cherie Zamazing and the Waterstones Book of the Year 2023, Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell. Rundell’s fantasy novel is the first children’s book to win the prestigious award in six years.

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, commented: “I am delighted to report a strong period of trading which is principally driven by the continued phenomenal demand for fantasy fiction. Bloomsbury has consistently built its success on the immense talent of our authors and the exceptional hard work of our teams who support them.”

The Company will provide a further trading update on performance for the year ended 29 February 2024 in March 2024.

* The Board considers that the consensus market expectation for the year ending 29 February 2024 is currently revenue of £274.2 million and profit before taxation and highlighted items of £32.9 million.

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The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

The information in this announcement has not been audited or otherwise independently verified and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of the information or opinions contained herein. None of the Company or any of its affiliates, advisors or representatives shall have any liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss whatsoever arising from any use of this announcement, or its contents, or otherwise arising in connection with this announcement.

This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to sell, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase any shares in the Company, nor shall it or any part of it or the fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or commitment or investment decisions relating thereto, nor does it constitute a recommendation regarding the shares of the Company.

Certain statements, statistics and projections in this announcement are or may be forward looking. By their nature, forward‑looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties or assumptions that may or may not occur and actual results or events may differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that any particular expectation will be met and reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements contained in this announcement regarding past trends or activities should not be taken as representation that such trends or activities will continue in the future. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which are based on the knowledge and information available only at the date of this announcement’s preparation.

The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or keep current the information contained in this announcement, including any forward‑looking statements, or to correct any inaccuracies which may become apparent and any opinions expressed in it are subject to change without notice.

References in this announcement to other reports or materials, such as a website address, have been provided to direct the reader to other sources of information on Bloomsbury Publishing Plc which may be of interest. Neither the content of Bloomsbury’s website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks from Bloomsbury’s website nor any additional materials contained or accessible thereon, are incorporated in, or form part of, this announcement.

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