Bloomsbury sales rise nicely on the back of popular titles
COOKERY books from the likes of celebrity chef Paul Hollywood and Heston Blumenthal buoyed Bloomsbury’s profits 33 per cent in the six months to 31 August.
Chief executive Nigel Newton said the firm was traditionally more successful in the second half, due to academic sales in autumn and holiday sales in winter, but a number of popular novels in the first half had pushed profits higher than expected.
“The Group has made a good start to the year. In line with the Company’s growth strategy, Bloomsbury has made significant progress in developing the academic and professional division, most notably with the acquisition of Hart Publishing,” said Newton.
“Our adult division enjoyed a very good interim result, reflecting an impressive new book programme including And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini and The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon, as well as a flourishing cookery list,” he added.
The publishing group’s revenue rose 13 per cent to £49.2m with profits of £1.1m.