Bloomsbury share price dips as publisher feels the chill of last year’s blockbusters
Publisher Bloomsbury yesterday said last year’s success of Khaled Hosseini’s bestselling novel And The Mountains Echoed overshadowed this year’s results.
The publisher reported a fall in turnover to £46.6m for the year ending 31 August 2014, from £49.2m in 2013 when Hosseini’s book sold by the bucketload.
Pre-tax profits also fell to £500,000 this year, down from £1.1m in the prior period.
The group said a strong pipeline of future projects revolving around its Harry Potter franchise, including future films, a stage play and new book editions of the popular series, would help the group recover.
Chief executive Nigel Newton said: “We have continued to make strong progress in developing Bloomsbury as a wholly integrated trade and academic publisher.
“We expect results to continue to be significantly second-half weighted, as in the past.”
Academic and professional publishing was a bright spot for the firm, with revenues up 30 per cent. Shares in the company fell 3.74 per cent in trading yesterday, dipping to 154.25p a share.