Bloomsbury says 2020 performance 'in line with expectations'

Bloomsbury has released a pre-close trading update for the 12 months to 29th February 2020, saying its performance was in line with expectations.

The firm did not break out all its figures but said it had an “excellent” financial position with net cash of £31m after paying £1.2m to acquire theatre publisher Oberon Books in December.

However, it warned it was still unclear how the coronavirus crisis would affect its figures for the coming year.

The report noted: “There is disruption to bookshops, online retailers and academic institutions, whilst on the other hand, reading books, including print books, is likely to be popular at home. E-book and audiobook downloads will be available for people to order from home.”

For the year ending 29th February 2020, the non-consumer academic and professional division had a “strong” performance, with both revenue and margin growth. The firm said: "Bloomsbury Digital Resources has grown to have over 1,100 academic institutions buying direct. Major products this year included the National Theatre Video Collection on Drama Online, and Bloomsbury Professional’s Tax Online service with the ICAEW.”

Bloomsbury also noted a number of bestsellers from its consumer division in the second half, including: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Illustrated Edition by J K Rowling with Jim Kay; Sarah J Maas’ Crescent City: House of Earth & Blood; Tom Kerridge’s Lose Weight & Get Fit; Dishoom: From Bombay with Love; Three Women by Lisa Taddeo; and The Anarchy by William Dalrymple.

The final results will be released on 20th May. Bloomsbury's first-half results, released in October, showed revenues were down 5.3% from £75.3m to £71.3m, with pretax profit declining to £1.3m from £1.6m.