23rd Oct 2014 08:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC shares fell in early trade on Thursday after the company said its pretax profit halved in the first half on a drop in revenue, though it reiterated its full-year results will be weighted to the second half.
Pretax profit for the publishing house fell to GBP509,000 in the six months to August 31, against GBP1.1 million a year earlier. The profit decline came on the back of a drop in revenue in the period, down to GBP46.6 million from GBP49.2 million last year, with the impact on profit of the revenue hit mitigated by a slight fall in the cost of sales in the period.
Bloomsbury said the revenue decline was caused by an expected decrease of 17% from its Adult arm against strong comparables. Revenue for its Academic & Professional business rose 1% in the period, while Children & Education increased 7% on the back of a strategic investment in the business. The Bloomsbury Information arm increased revenue by around 25% in the period.
The group hiked its interim dividend by 4% to 1.02 pence per share from 0.98 pence last year.
Bloomsbury said its earnings are heavily weighted to the second half, with October a key month for academic book sales and the Christmas period the peak for general books. It said it expects to deliver rights and services income from new contracts in the second half.
Bloomsbury shares were down 4.5% to 153.00 pence on Thursday, making it one of the worst performers in the FTSE Allshare index.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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