Bloomsbury's first quarter sales rise 3.7%

Total revenues at Bloomsbury were up 3.7% year-on-year for the four months ending 30th June 2018 following a "particularly strong result" from the adult consumer division.

Excluding the revenues of non-fiction publisher I B Tauris, which was acquired on 30th April 2018, revenues were up by 2.1%.

Top selling consumer titles in the period included A Court of Wings and Fury by Sarah J. Maas, the Harry Potter series, Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows and Circe by Madeline Miller.

The non-consumer division also saw growth in the period and product output within Bloomsbury Digital Resources continues "in line with plan", said the publisher. Later this year the company will be launching the Bloomsbury Architecture Library, which includes the 21st edition of Sir Banister Fletcher's A History of Architecture, produced in association with the Royal Institute of British Architects and University College London. Other products being launched this year include Bloomsbury Applied Visual Arts and Bloomsbury Fashion Business Cases.

Discussing the results, the board said it expects profit for the financial year to be “in line with its expectations”, and added that the first quarter traditionally generates its smallest profit of the financial year.

Meanwhile, the publisher has revealed that it will be partnering with fashion retailer Yoox Net-a-Porter to make rare fashion show footage exclusively available to the educational market for the first time. The archive, offering "an unrivalled window" onto fashion history between 1979 and 2003, will make a "significant contribution" to the Bloomsbury Fashion Central platform, the firm said.

Kathryn Earle, managing director of Bloomsbury Digital Resources, said: "We're thrilled to be making this priceless resource available to the educational market exclusively through Bloomsbury. It is an absolute treasure trove for fashion students and researchers as well as anyone interested in broader cultural and aesthetic trends of the period. It's a miracle that this footage has survived. Alongside a rapidly growing suite of products that contribute to Bloomsbury's digital strategy, this archive will be an absolute jewel in our fashion offering."

The results for the six months ending 31st August 2018 will be announced on 23rd October 2018.