29th Oct 2019 10:42
(Alliance News) - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC said Tuesday interim profit dropped on weaker revenue mainly driven by an underperformance in the Children's Trade unit.
For the six months to the end of August, the publisher GBP1.3 million in pretax profit, down 19% from the year before. Adjusted pretax profit, which excludes exceptional costs, was down 14% at GBP2.5 million.
Exceptional costs came in at GBP1.2 million, down 7.7%, a figure which includes legal and professional fees and the amortisation of acquired intangible assets.
Bloomsbury's revenue declined by 5.3% to GBP71.3 million from GBP75.3 million the prior year, driven mainly by a decline in revenue from the group's Children's Trade unit of 18% to GBP25.3 million.
Although sales of Harry Potter titles remained strong, sales from author Sarah Maas was down by 39%, due to one paperback title being published in the period compared to two titles the year before, the firm said.
Bloomsbury declared an interim dividend of 1.28 pence per share, up 6% from 1.21p the year before.
Looking ahead, Bloomsbury said October is the peak period for academic titles and the Christmas period for sales of consumer books. As a result, the group expects annual results to be significantly second-half weighted.
"The group delivered an encouraging first-half and performance is in line with the board's expectations for the full-year," said Chief Executive Nigel Newton.
"Traditionally, sales of trade titles peak for Christmas and sales of academic titles at the beginning of the academic year in the Autumn. With our strong consumer list in the second half, our sales are therefore expected to be even more second-half weighted than in previous years."
Shares in Bloomsbury, which is headquartered in London, were down 4.4% at 248.47 pence on Tuesday.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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