Regulatory announcements

Full year profit upgrade; No. 1 bestseller from Gillian Anderson and AI licensing agreement

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMY, “Bloomsbury” or “the Company”), the leading independent publisher, today announces unaudited results for the six months ended 31 August 2025.

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

"Bloomsbury is pleased to report revenue of £160m and profit¹ of £24m with a strong margin of 15%.

In the Academic & Professional division, we achieved revenue growth of 20% despite the challenging market conditions in the UK and US. Growth was driven by the intellectual property value and quality of our academic list which enabled us to sign our first non-exclusive AI licensing agreement, announced in July. With this, we continue to find new ways of monetising our content.

I am pleased to confirm the integration of Rowman & Littlefield is now substantially complete in both the US and the UK. Digitisation of its titles continues apace, contributing to Bloomsbury Digital Resources (BDR). Our international expansion will continue with the opening of an office in Singapore, allowing us to capitalise on the forecast growth in the student population in Asia.

The Consumer division performance was in line with expectations. The success of Sarah J. Maas’ frontlist title in the first half of last year created a strong comparative period. Bloomsbury was voted Publisher of the Year 2025 at the British Book Awards. The success of Want by Gillian Anderson continued, winning Publicity Campaign of the Year followed by the paperback hitting Number 1 on the Sunday Times bestseller list; it has remained a bestseller for 15 weeks. We have had a positive start to the second half with further bestsellers including new titles from Samantha Shannon and Katherine Rundell, who recently announced a multi-film deal with Walt Disney Studios.

As a reflection of our confidence in the future, the Board declares an interim dividend of 4.08 pence per share, an increase of 5% year on year.

The Board is confident in our strategy and expects to deliver full year profit ahead of expectations.²"

Financial Highlights

• Group revenue of £159.5m (H1 2024/25: £179.8m)
• Group profit before taxation and highlighted items³ of £24.0m (H1 2024/25: £26.6m)
• $10m further early repayment of Rowman & Littlefield acquisition loan
• Net cash is £2.4m with a more efficient balance sheet post the Rowman & Littlefield acquisition
• Interim dividend increased by 5% year on year to 4.08p per share

Operational Highlights

• Bloomsbury 2030 Vision progressing well, supporting growth and profitability
• Successfully moved our UK distribution and warehousing arrangements to Hachette
• Strengthened our sales infrastructure with the creation of the US key account sales tea
• Special Interest has moved into the Consumer division with management alignment with the wider Consumer teams; A&P (including BDR) has become a standalone division
• Earned the Great Place to Work certification for the second year
• Appointment of Keith Underwood as Chief Financial and Operating Officer starting February 2026

Academic & Professional Division (A&P) Highlights

• A&P revenue up 20% to £46.1m (H1 2024/25: £38.5m) and profit before tax and highlighted items £11.0m (H1 2024/25: £6.0m) with margin of 24% (H1 2024/25: 16%)
• IP value of academic content enabled us to sign our first non-exclusive AI licensing agreement
• Well documented challenging market conditions with UK and US budgetary pressures
• Singapore office on track to open H2 2025/26 to expand Bloomsbury’s direct relationships in Asia and capitalise on expected growth in student numbers in the region⁴
• Rowman & Littlefield integration substantially complete; digitisation and royalties ongoing
• BDR revenue increased in constant currency; FX headwind took revenue to £13.6m (H1 2024/25: £13.7m)

Consumer Division Highlights

• Consumer was in line with expectations versus a strong comparative
• Revenue of £113.4m (H1 2024/25: £141.3m) and profit before tax and highlighted items³ of £13.4m (H1 2024/25: £20.6m); numbers are restated to include Special Interest
• Bloomsbury won Publisher of the Year 2025 at the British Book Awards
• Gillian Anderson’s Want has been in the Top 10 on the Sunday Times bestseller list for 15 weeks
• Katherine Rundell topped bestseller lists and secured a multi-film deal with Walt Disney Studios
• Sarah J. Maas paperback of House of Flame and Shadow was a bestseller, published in June 2025
• J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series continues to be a bestseller 28 years after publication

 

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First Half Results	2025/26	2024/25	2023/24
Revenue	£159.5m	£179.8m	£136.7m
Profit before taxation and highlighted items3	£24.0m	£26.6m	£17.7m<
Profit before taxation	£18.3m	£22.1m	£14.0m
Adjusted diluted earnings per share	22.98p	24.68p	17.47p
Diluted earnings per share	16.79p	20.10p	13.66p
Net cash	£2.4m	£9.7m	£39.1m
Interim dividend per share	4.08p	3.89p	3.70p

 

Notes

¹    Profit before taxation and highlighted items.

²    The Board considers consensus market expectations (before this publication) for the year ending 28 February 2026 to be revenue of £335.9m and profit before taxation and highlighted items of £41.6m.

³    Highlighted items comprise amortisation of acquired intangible assets and legal and other professional costs relating to ongoing and completed acquisitions, integration and restructuring costs.

⁴    World Bank estimates that globally there will be 380m higher education students by 2030 up 73% from 220m in 2021.

 

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