Bloomsbury reports record first-half revenues of £136.7m

Bloomsbury has reported strong first half revenues, achieving 11% year-on-year revenue growth to £136.7m for six months ending on 31st August 2023. The unaudited results also show profit growth of 11%, rising to £17.7m from £15.9m in 2022. 

By comparison, in 2022, revenue had grown 22% since 2021 and the results had shown profit growth of 23% year on year. 

“Fantasy was particularly strong in the period, led by Sarah J Maas but also Samantha Shannon, with growth there of 79% and 169% [respectively] in the period and Harry Potter remaining strong, 26 years after publication,” c.e.o. Nigel Newton told The Bookseller. He attributed the success of the fantasy genre in part to BookTok, which he also linked to the prevalence of science fiction. 

“I think science fiction is also going well for us, and Head of Zeus’ trilogy The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu will be a streaming series on Netflix early in the new year, made by David Benioff and D B Weiss—the people behind ’Game of Thrones’—and said to be the most expensive production in Netflix history," he said.

The Consumer Division saw 17% growth in revenue to £89.4m, and an increase of 26% in profit to £11.2m from £8.9m in 2022. He added that Bloomsbury Digital Resources (BDR) “consolidated last year’s exceptional growth and increased subscription revenue to 47%”. 

The Academic and Professional division saw a small dip in revenue, reported at £36.4m this year from £36.5m in 2022. Profit in this division has also decreased, from £7.3m in 2022 to £5.9m this year. 

Adult Trade revenue is up 8% to £27.6m but profit before taxation has dipped to £0.1m from £0.2m in 2022. Children’s Trade revenue has grown 22% to £61.7m and profit is up 29% in this division, at £11.1m. 

Bloomsbury has diversified across formats, markets and territories which, according to Newton, has helped balance the business and has helped create “a smoother earnings profile across the year”. 

Newton explained that sales had usually been stronger in the second half of the year leading up to Christmas. This has now become more balanced and the company is increasing the amount of full-year dividend paid at the interim. 

Audio is a format “powering forward”, according to Newton, who said that this has been a successful market for the publisher, which has grown its department. 

Newton said he was optimistic about the second half of the year, citing the upcoming publication of Maas’ House of Flame and Shadow, which is due to be published on 30th January 2024. He also highlighted The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, which was published earlier this month.