Bloomsbury weighs in for Christmas with double-digit profit growth
Bloomsbury Publishing weighs ahead of the the holiday months with its “highest ever” half year interim results, chief executive Nigel Newton says.
This six month period was Bloomsbury’s fourth consecutive double-digit growth period, with revenue up 11 per cent to £136.7 million and profit up 11 per cent to £17.7 million.
Some of the independent publishing company’s oldest consumer titles and authors are still wringing in sales as the division’s revenue grew 17 per cent.
“Fantasy is a huge and increasingly popular genre which has driven forward our consumer division. Sales of Sarah J. Maas and Samantha Shannon grew 79 per cent and 169 per cent respectively in the period and demand for Harry Potter, 26 years after publication, remains strong,” Newton said.
Not only have these interim results generated confidence in the next six months ahead, as Christmas tends to be a favourable time for the industry, but it has led the company to increase the proportion of the full year dividend paid in the interim.
“In line with this rebalancing and our dividend policy, the Board has increased the interim dividend to 3.70 pence per share, compared to 1.41 pence per share for the six months ended 31 August 2022,” Newton said. “We maintain our overall dividend guidance for the full year.”