Bloomsbury’s revenue up 30% as profit soars to £49m in record year

Bloomsbury has reported its highest revenue and profit in its 37-year-history with revenue up by 30%.

The revenue increased from £264m in 2022/23 to £343m for the year ended 29th February 2024, while consumer revenue has grown 49%. Profit has also seen a 57% increase in that period, reaching £49m from £31m the previous year. 

Full-year dividend has increased 25% for the independent publisher, from 12p in the last results to 15p this year.

Chief executive Nigel Newton said: “We had an outstanding year at Bloomsbury with exceptional trading leading to the highest revenue and profit in Bloomsbury’s 37-year history.

“This dramatic increase arises from our entrepreneurial diversification strategy, which has forged a portfolio of portfolios combining consumer and academic publishing across formats, territories and subject areas, a resilient model delivering long-term success.” 

This growth has been driven by the success of commercial and literary titles across the publisher’s portfolio, with sales of Sarah J Maas’ titles up 161%.

“Her books have captivated a huge audience, supported by major Bloomsbury promotional campaigns, driving strong word-of-mouth recommendation, particularly through social media channels,” Newton added. Katherine Rundell and Samantha Shannon’s titles have also contributed to the publisher’s success in the past year, while Harry Potter titles continue to see strong sales. 

“Bloomsbury Digital Resources increased sales to £27m and remains on course to achieve its target of c.£37m turnover in 2027/28, though Non-Consumer sales were slightly down by 4% to £93.4 million,” Newton said.

“Bloomsbury is well placed, despite the end of US government Covid relief funding, to capitalise on the continued structural shift to digital learning and is confident in the long-term growth opportunities of the Non-Consumer division given the significant growth projections for higher education.”

Bloomsbury added that trading for its next financial year was expected to be slightly ahead of current expectations, but reflected the exceptional performance in 2023/24, and that it was not expecting to publish a new Sarah J Maas title in the year ending 28th February 2025. 

Meanwhile, the publisher has announced that after seven years Sir Richard Lambert has given notice of his intention to retire as chairman and step down as director of the company, with effect from the conclusion of the annual general meeting on 16th July 2024. John Bason, the current independent non-executive director, will succeed him as chairman, subject to re-election as a director.