Profile profit soars 67% as turnover up 38% in ‘healthy’ year

Profile has reported a “healthy” financial year for the 12 months ending 31st March 2022, with turnover of £16.6m, up 38.4% from £12.2m last year.

It reported an operating profit of £1.5m, 67% up on its operating profit of £900,000 in the 12 months to March 2020. Operating profit represented 9% of turnover compared to 7% the previous year.

Strongly performing titles included Janice Hallett’s The Appeal (Viper), which won the Debut Dagger at the Crime Writers Association Awards as well as being named a Waterstones Book of the Year, and Laura Dave’s The Last Thing He Told Me (Viper), a 2021 Richard and Judy pick which has sold more than 300,000 copies, according to the publisher.

Viper was crowned Imprint of the Year at this year’s British Books Awards and publicist Drew Jerrison won Publicity Campaign of the Year for Torrey Peters’ Detransition, Baby (Serpent’s Tail), after winning two campaigns of the year at the Publishers Publicity Circle Annual Awards for Peters’ book and The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward (Viper).

Other strongly performing titles included Gavin Francis’s meditation on convalescence Recovery (Wellcome/Profile), Jeremy Farrar and Anjana Ahuja’s Spike (Profile), Oliver Bullough’s Butler to the World (Profile), and stoicism guru Ryan Holliday’s Daily Stoic (Profile). Julia Cameron’s books on creativity, including “perennial seller” The Artist’s Way (Souvenir), also brought success.

Andrew Franklin, managing director, said: "We wouldn’t be anywhere without our colleagues, authors and booksellers. We owe them the greatest debt of thanks.

"In globally difficult times, the coming months are going to be challenging for all of us in the absence of a functional government, but we will publish our way through it with the help of our friends and look forward to seeing the autumn list come alive."