18th Sep 2007 07:02
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC18 September 2007 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc Interim Results for the six months to 30 June 2007 * Six months Revenue up 36.5% to £51.41m (2006, £37.66m) * Profit before investment income increased 7.6% to £3.25m (2006,£3.02m) * Interim dividend up 6.1% to 0.70p (2006, 0.66p) * Four electronic rights deals signed this year which included Bloomsbury's most important reference rights partnership to date for Finance:The Ultimate Resource with Qatar Financial Centre Authority * Strong publishing lists for second half and into 2008 * Well positioned for further growth Commenting on the results and prospects for Bloomsbury, Nigel Newton, Chairman,said: "This is a good set of results which puts us back on track following last year'sprofit warning. Between April and June, Bloomsbury enjoyed one of the mostsustained periods of publishing bestsellers in its history. Four major referencerights deals which had been in the pipeline have now been completed and willprovide very important revenue streams going forward. We are also starting to see the benefits of the strategic approach which weoutlined in my previous Chairman's statement and our publishing programme forthe second half of the year is very strong." For further information, please contact: +----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+|Ben Woodford/Dan de Belder, Bell Pottinger |020 7861 3232 |+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+|Sandy Karon, PA to the Chairman, Bloomsbury |020 7494 6015 ||Publishing Plc | |+----------------------------------------------------+-----------------+ Chairman's statement Overview In my last Chairman's statement I set out six key elements of our strategy whichwill drive our future growth by building on existing strengths and developingnew opportunities. These are to: •Generate content, particularly in new digital areas and from television and film; •Build new author relationships and content; •Exploit our geographic reach; •Develop greater revenues from our current stable of authors; •Pioneer web-based initiatives; and •Undertake acquisitions. As many of the examples in this report will show, we are already starting to seereal benefits from this strategic approach. Bloomsbury has rebounded stronglyfrom our profit warning in December of last year with many long-term plans andpublications have come to fruition since then. In addition, four major referencerights deals, which had been in the pipeline, have all now been completed. Theserepresent very important deals for the Company's future. The Company's excellent 21 year hit rate for publishing bestsellers resumed inJanuary with the publication of the paperback edition of Restless by WilliamBoyd which won the Costa Prize in January and was featured on the Richard andJudy Book Club on Valentine's Day driving considerable extra sales. At the sametime, Ben MacIntyre's Agent Zigzag also achieved considerable success. Bloomsbury enjoyed one of the most sustained periods of publishing bestsellersin its history in a remarkable six-week period from 15 May to 30 June. Thisincluded David Kynaston's remarkable 600 page scholarly history AusterityBritain: 1945-1951 which is one of the best reviewed books ever published by theCompany; David Dimbleby's British social and architectural history, How We BuiltBritain, which tied in with his BBC 1 television series; A Thousand SplendidSuns, Khaled Hosseini's next book following The Kite Runner, which had hugeretailer support and went straight to number one in the bestseller list; andImperial Life in the Emerald City, Rajiv Chandrasekaran's remarkable book aboutlife in the Green Zone in Iraq, which won the Samuel Johnson prize forNon-Fiction and enjoyed significantly increased sales. The period under review also had the benefit of the export orders of HarryPotter and the Deathly Hallows which were considerably up on the previous bookin the series published in 2005. The exceptional UK pre-orders and re-ordersfall into the second half of the year and therefore do not comprise part of thisinterim financial reporting period. Revenue for the first six months increased 36.5% to £51.41m (2006, £37.66m) onthe back of a number of bestselling titles and the release of Harry Potter andthe Deathly Hallows into the export markets. Gross profit increased 16.5% to£21.80m (2006, £18.71m), with the gross margin down at 42.4% (2006, 49.7%) dueto a combination of royalty costs on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, thehigh level of returns experienced in the UK, US and Germany for other titles andincreased provisions for stock and advances on books published in previousfinancial years. We have increased the provisions at the half year to accountfor the likely irrecoverability of some of these investments. We do not expectthe US to make a profit for the full year 2007, although we expect the positionto improve in 2008 when the revenues from the books published under our newimprint, Bloomsbury Press, come fully on stream. The paperbacks of bookspublished in the UK in hardback in 2006 will be published this year and we willbe reviewing the level of provisioning, as we always do, in the light of theirperformance at the end of this year. Investment in selective marketing initiatives is increasingly important not onlyin helping to build the Bloomsbury brand but also in responding to changes inthe industry. As books become more promotion-led we are increasing the number oftitles supported by major marketing campaigns. This will enable greater focus onour bigger books which is where any significant marketing spend will be focusedgoing forward. Marketing and distribution costs were 27.5% higher at £8.68m (2006, £6.81m), butas a percentage of turnover they decreased to 16.9% (2006, 18.1%). The increasein marketing and distribution spend was primarily as a result of the release ofHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into the export markets. The releasecarries a relatively lower distribution cost due to the favourable bulk ratesattached to it. However we decided to support the export release, with strongmarketing spend and this seems to have paid off. Administrative expensesincreased 11.1% to £9.87m (2006, £8.88m), which is mainly due to an increasedshare-based payment charge costs associated with the publication of Harry Potterand the Deathly Hallows, the full period cost of the additional commissioningeditors hired in 2006 and additional back office support in the US, and generalinflationary increases on employment costs. As a percentage of turnover,administrative expenses decreased to 19.2% (2006, 23.6%). Profit before investment income increased 7.6% to £3.25m (2006, £3.02m). Interest income decreased by 49.6% to £0.62m (2006, £1.23m) primarily as aresult of lower average cash balances held during the six month period. Profit before tax decreased 8.5% to £3.86m (2006, £4.22m) as a result of lowerinterest receivable in the period. The effective rate of corporation tax for thesix months was 33% (2006, 29.4%). The Group's effective tax for the year ending 31 December 2007 is expected torise to 33%, up from 29.4% for the year ended 31 December 2006. The reason forthe expected increase is primarily the performance of the Group's US operations,which are expected to generate a loss that cannot be relieved against theGroup's UK taxable profits. At present, the Group cannot be sufficiently certainthat this loss will be relieved against future taxable profits in the US torecognise it as a deferred tax asset, resulting in an estimated 3% increase inthe Group's effective tax rate. The Group tax charge has also been adversely impacted by the current low shareprice, which has restricted the Group's ability to recognise a deferred taxasset in respect of the expected future tax relief on the exercise of the shareoptions it has granted. This has resulted in an estimated further 3% increase inthe Group's effective tax rate. Another factor which has contributed to the increase is the 10% reduction in thefuture tax rate announced by Germany. The immediate impact of this is that theGroup has to write off a proportion of the deferred tax asset recognised inrespect of past tax losses in Germany, as these will in future now be relievedat a lower rate. However, this German rate reduction, together with the 2%reduction in the UK corporation tax rate announced earlier this year, shouldcorrespondingly reduce the Group's overall effective tax rate from 2008 onwards. Basic earnings per share decreased 13.7% to 3.52 pence (2006, 4.08 pence). Net cash outflow for the Group for the first six months of the year was £10.97m(30 June 2006, outflow £22.36m). The cash outflow related primarily to fundingthe high level of returns across the Group, royalties paid to authors in Marchand continued investment in author advances The increase in working capital wasdue to continued investment in the Group's forward publishing programme and inthe lead to the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow's. In thefirst six months of 2007, the Group also paid the 2006 final dividend of £2.20m(2006, £2.19m). Net cash balances at 30 June decreased 45.2% to £13.32m (31December 2006, £24.30m). INTERIM DIVIDEND The Directors have declared a 6.1% increase in the interim dividend to 0.70pence per share (2006, 0.66 pence per share), which will be paid on 16 November2007 to shareholders on the register at close of business on 2 November 2007.The dividend takes account of the profit growth whilst at the same timerecognising the need to retain funds to respond to opportunities for futureexpansion and acquisition growth. OPERATIONAL REVIEW Children's The high point for the Children's division this year was the release of thefinal volume of Harry Potter with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Ordershave been strong with first day sales in the UK according to Nielsen BookScan,the independent book trade monitoring service, up 32% on the previous book to2,652,656 copies. These orders are not recorded in the first half of the year.Overseas first-day sales were equally impressive with 398,271 copies sold inGermany, 573,845 in Australia which is 64% up on last time, and 930,711 inCanada through our joint venture with Raincoast based in Vancouver. The rest of the list has performed well in what is essentially a very flatmarket for children's publishing. A new government initiative was launched this year. The Education Secretarypublished a list of the top 160 books for teenage boys and Bloomsbury had 14titles on the list, including 101 Things To Do Before You're Old and Boring byRichard Horne, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, and Larklight by Philip Reeve. The listis intended to encourage secondary school boys to continue to read for pleasure. Tanglewreck will be televised by the BBC for a two-part drama at Christmas, andthe film to Magyk by Angie Sage will go into production this year. Adult Richard and Judy Book Club choices continue to dominate the market. We began theyear publishing the paperback of William Boyd's Restless which in January wonthe Costa Prize and in February was a Richard & Judy choice. This was followedby A Thousand Splendid Suns, the new novel by Khaled Hosseini, the author of TheKite Runner. The book went straight to No 1 in the Hardback Fiction bestsellerlist and has remained on that list since publication. The Kite Runner was votedthe Penguin Orange Broadband Reader's Group Favourite Book, and the film of TheKite Runner will be released early next year which should provide huge supportfor the continued sales of the book. In the Autumn we look forward to Divisadero, the new novel by Booker prizewinner Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient, a first novel fromSophie Dahl, and new books from Douglas Coupland and Nobel prize winner NadineGordimer. Reference A&C Black performed well in the first half of 2007. We celebrated our 200thanniversary by republishing two small books from our archive, Don'ts forHusbands and Don'ts for Wives. Other publishing successes include the launch ofa new series, Business on a Shoestring, which gives advice to small businessesand, from our nautical imprint, Left for Dead by Nick Ward, the gripping storyof his survival against all odds after he was abandoned for dead by hiscrewmates in the infamous Fastnet race of 1979. Our new list, Methuen Drama, acquired in 2006 has seen a significant uplift inturnover and profits in its first full year. This has been as a result of moreextensive sales and marketing activity to increase the sales of existing booksand of successful new launches, including an innovative new series ofShakespeare plays in combined print and audio editions. Electronic Media - Long-term revenue generation Electronic Media will be a critical ingredient in the future portfolio of thebusiness with its long-term revenue generating benefits. We are making excellentprogress in this area. This spring we agreed significant new rights contracts with Oxford UniversityPress, Microsoft and ProQuest. The agreement with OUP is for a ten-year collaboration between the two bestknown biographical reference works: A&C Black's Who's Who and OUP OxfordDictionary of National Biography. Starting in December 2007, the 2008 edition ofWho's Who and Who Was Who, the historical archive of Who's Who, will bepublished online on a dedicated website alongside the Oxford Dictionary ofNational Biography. The information provided by in the annual editions of Who'sWho about 32,000 current entrants will complement the coverage of the OxfordDictionary of National Biography, which does not include living people. The 100,000 autobiographical entries in Who Was Who are also a perfect companionto the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography's 55,000 biographies, and manymore in Oxford's other online services. For the first time, readers will be ableto move seamlessly between these national resources with unrivalled searchfunctionality. A second long-term agreement with Microsoft is for the licence of electronicrights to a reference database and extends Bloomsbury's relationship withMicrosoft dating from the publication online and in print of the Encarta WorldEnglish Dictionary in 1999. We have also negotiated renewal of an agreement with ProQuest for Whitaker'sAlmanack in KnowUK. This new agreement allows Whitaker's content to be offeredby them until 2011. In August we announced the signing of Bloomsbury's largest database inpartnership with a major international financial organisation, the QatarFinancial Centre Authority for the database, Finance - The Ultimate Resource.The contract value is £7m and the operating profit attributable to this willarise in the years between 2008 and 2014, thus providing long-term profitpotential for the Company. This is a very exciting time for Bloomsbury as it demonstrates significantdemand for the type of content which we have unparalleled expertise in creating. International Bloomsbury USA and Walker Publishing Company, Inc. The first half of 2007 has shown growth on gross revenues from 2006 but weexperienced a higher than expected level of book returns from previous years'publications which has resulted in higher levels of advance and stockprovisioning this year. Net revenues for the six-month period declined 14.9% to£5.78m (2006, £6.79m). We have carried out a review of our cost base. Staffreductions are being made through staff turnover although we will review thisprocess should trading not improve. We are hopeful that we can make up for someof shortfall that occurred in the first half. There is improvement in the secondhalf of the year, though the US is expected to make a loss for the year as awhole. The publishing lists from the two commissioning editors recruited in 2006will come fully on stream in 2008 and this should strengthen the business. Market conditions still remain difficult this year with retailers and bookchains becoming more conservative in their buying patterns, seeking lower stockholdings on titles and being more aggressive on returning books. Nonetheless wehave had a number of strong sellers in the first half, including The Nasty Bitsby Anthony Bourdain, The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale and The Highest Tideby Jim Lynch. The second half publishing programme is good and does provide the potential toexceed current trading prospects. We have No Reservations, the new book fromAnthony Bourdain, Jacques Cousteau's The Human, the Orchid and the Octopus and,from our Children's list, The Declaration by Gemma Malley, a title shared acrossthe Group with Bloomsbury UK and Berlin. Berlin Verlag Berlin is performing strongly with revenues up 36.3% to £3.42m (2006, £2.51m) inthe first half. These results underline the benefits of better forward planning,additional focus on lead titles across the lists, our extended release dateschedule, excellent and innovative publicity and marketing initiatives,continued cost-control disciplines and a strong list of books, many from repeatauthors. This performance is particularly creditable in an increasinglyconsolidating retail market. The increasing power of bookshop chains (forexample the Hugendubel Group has increased its outlets from 100 to 450 in thelast year) is making noticeable inroads into the traditionally dominantindependent bookselling sector. The year started well with William Boyd's Ruhelos (Restless), a title sharedwith Bloomsbury UK and USA, being featured positively on Elke Heidenreich'spopular TV programme Lesen!, the German equivalent of Richard and Judy, andimmediately entering the Spiegel bestseller list. Berlin benefited from thesales commission earned on selling Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows into theGerman market in June. The German operation has a good list in the second halfof the year which could pave the way for one of its strongest performances todate. Board and employees On 5 September we announced that Jeremy Wilson has been appointed Non-ExecutiveChairman with effect from 27 September. This is a positive move for the Companywhich will help it achieve its ambitions for the next stage of its development.Jeremy Wilson, who was appointed a Non-Executive Director of Bloomsbury in 2005,has worked at Barclays Bank PLC since 1972, where he has held a number of seniormanagement positions. He is currently Vice Chairman, Business Banking atBarclays Bank PLC, a position he will retain. He brings with him valuableexperience in business and finance within a FTSE 100 company and his skills andbackground make him well suited to be the Company's Non-Executive Chairman. The progress we have achieved is a reflection of the skill and enthusiasm of ourteam members. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of mycolleagues throughout the Company for their commitment over the period. Outlook The publishing programme for the second half of the year is very strong. We arecarrying out a detailed review of the Group's overheads to determine ourrequirements to continue the organic growth strategy of the business and also toimprove the profits on the revenues currently being generated. We have a strongstable of authors across all three of our major territories. There is alsoincreasing demand for electronic licences to our intellectual property from bluechip clients and Bloomsbury can look forward to high quality long-term repeatrevenues from these licences for many years to come. Nigel NewtonChairman18 September 2007 CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT for the six months ended 30 June 2007 Notes 6 months 6 months Year ended ended ended 30 June 30 June 31 2007 2006 December 2006 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000 Revenue 2 51,410 37,659 74,773 Cost of sales (29,609) (18,949) (38,602) ______ ______ ______Gross profit 21,801 18,710 36,171Marketing and distribution costs (8,677) (6,812) (14,354)Administrative expenses (9,873) (8,883) (18,308) ______ ______ ______ Profit before investment income 2 3,251 3,015 3,509Investment income 621 1,232 1,734Finance costs (15) (28) (47) ______ ______ ______Profit before taxation 3,857 4,219 5,196Income tax expense (1,274) (1,241) (1,544) ______ ______ ______Profit for the period 2,583 2,978 3,652 ______ ______ ______Basic earnings per share 3 3.52p 4.08p 4.99p ______ ______ ______Diluted earnings per share 3 3.42p 4.01p 4.90p ______ ______ ______ CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF RECOGNISED INCOME AND EXPENSEfor the six months ended 30 June 2007 6 months 6 months Year ended ended ended 30 June 30 June 31 2007 2006 December 2006 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000 Profit for the period 2,583 2,978 3,652Exchange rate adjustments (255) (1,076) (1,878) ______ ______ ______Total recognised income for the period 2,328 1,902 1,774 ______ ______ ______ CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETat 30 June 2007 30 June 2007 30 June 2006 31 December 2006 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000ASSETSNon-current assetsProperty, plant and equipment 2,118 2,613 2,332Intangible assets 17,581 17,528 17,672Deferred tax assets 1,917 1,746 1,700 ______ ______ ______ Total non-current assets 21,616 21,887 21,704 ______ ______ ______ Current assetsInventories 22,749 15,876 15,818Trade and other receivables 70,646 40,742 49,217Cash and cash equivalents 13,323 31,117 24,304 ______ ______ ______ Total current assets 106,718 87,735 89,339 ______ ______ ______ TOTAL ASSETS 128,334 109,622 111,043 ______ ______ ______EQUITY AND LIABILITIESEquity attributable to equityholders of the parent Share capital 920 913 918 Share premium 39,191 38,392 38,915 Capital redemption reserve 20 20 20 Share-based payment reserve 1,648 743 1,104 Translation reserve (1,491) (434) (1,236 Retained earnings 49,897 49,423 49,612 ______ ______ ______Total equity 90,185 89,057 89,333 ______ ______ ______LiabilitiesNon-current liabilities Deferred tax 176 - 36Retirement benefit obligations 63 141 144Other payables 477 225 223 ______ ______ ______ Total non-current liabilities 716 366 403 ______ ______ ______ Current liabilities Trade and other payables 37,308 18,350 20,786Current tax payable 125 1,849 521 ______ ______ ______ Total current liabilities 37,433 20,199 21,307 ______ ______ ______Total liabilities 38,149 20,565 21,710 ______ ______ ______ TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES 128,334 109,622 111,043 ______ ______ ______ STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY Share Share Capital Share Translation Retained Total capital premium redemption based reserve earnings reserve payment £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 Balances at 1 January 2006 911 38,123 20 453 642 48,634 88,783Exchange differences on translating foreignoperations - - - - (1,076) - (1,076)Profit for the period - - - - 2,978 2,978Share-based payments - - - 290 - - 290Dividends - - - - - (2,189) (2,189)Share issues 2 269 - - - - 271 ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______Balances at 30 June 2006 913 38,392 20 743 (434) 49,423 89,057 Exchange differences on translating foreignoperations - - - - (802) - (802)Profit for the period - - - - 674 674Share-based payments - - - 361 - - 361Dividends - - - - - (485) (485)Share issues 5 523 - - - - 528 ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______Balances at 31 December 918 38,915 20 1,104 (1,236) 49,612 89,3332006 Exchange differences on translating foreignoperations - - - - (255) - (255)Profit for the period - - - - 2,583 2,583Share-based payments - - - 544 - - 544Deferred tax on share-based payments - - - - - (95) (95)Dividends - - - - - (2,203) (2,203)Share issues 2 276 - - - - 278 ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______Balances at 30 June 2007 920 39,191 20 1,648 (1,491) 49,897 90,185 ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ______ CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENTfor the six months ended 30 June 2007 6 months 6 months Year ended ended ended 30 June 30 June 31 December 2007 2006 2006 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000Cash flows from operating activitiesNet profit before tax 3,857 4,219 5,196Adjustments for:Depreciation of property, plant and equipment 334 228 661Amortisation of publishing relationships 18 18 36Profit on sale of property, plant and equipment (2) (1) (1)Share-based payment charges 544 290 651Investment income (621) (1,232) (1,734)Finance costs 15 28 47 ______ ______ ______ 4,145 3,550 4,856Increase in inventories (7,006) (779) (971)(Increase) / decrease in trade and other receivables (23,234) 6,782 (1,126)Increase / (decrease) in trade and other payables 16,722 (25,343) (22,682) ______ ______ ______Cash used in operations (9,373) (15,790) (19,923)Income taxes paid (155) (2,278) (5,195) ______ ______ ______Net outflow from operating activities (9,528) (18,068) (25,118) ______ ______ ______Cash flows from investing activitiesPurchase of property, plant and equipment (118) (1,226) (1,379)Purchase of businesses - (2,350) (2,419)Interest received 621 1,232 1,734 ______ ______ ______Net cash generated from / (used in) investing 503 (2,344) (2,064)activities ______ ______ ______ Cash flows from financing activitiesShare options exercised 278 271 799Equity dividends paid (2,203) (2,189) (2,674)Interest paid (15) (28) (47) ______ ______ ______Net cash used in financing activities (1,940) (1,946) (1,922) ______ ______ ______ Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents (10,965) (22,358) (29,104)Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 24,304 53,511 53,511Unrealised exchange loss on cash and cash equivalents (16) (36) (103) ______ ______ ______Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 13,323 31,117 24,304 ______ ______ ______ ACCOUNTING POLICIES The accounting policies used in the preparation of the accounts for the sixmonths ended 30 June 2007 are consistent with those that the Directors intend touse in the statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2007. NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS 1. Interim accounts The figures for the six months ended 30 June 2007 do not comprise full accounts.The financial information included in this document has been approved by theDirectors and prepared on a consistent basis with the accounts for the yearended 31 December 2006. The comparative figures for the year ended 31 December2006 were derived from the statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December2006, which received an unqualified audit report and have been lodged with theRegistrar of Companies. 2. Segmental analysis The Group considers that as the main thrust of its growth is to develop itsinternational publishing strategy, the primary segmental reporting should bebased on geographical segments. The analysis by geographical segment is shownbelow. External revenue 6 months 6 months Year(by source) ended ended ended 30 June 30 June 31 December 2007 2006 2006 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000 United Kingdom 42,212 28,355 53,880North America 5,777 6,793 15,011Continental Europe 3,421 2,511 5,882 _______ _______ _______ 51,410 37,659 74,773 _______ _______ _______ Segment result 6 months 6 months Year ended ended ended(by source) 30 June 30 June 31 December 2007 2006 2006 (unaudited) (unaudited) (audited) £'000 £'000 £'000 United Kingdom 3,617 3,503 3,724North America (892) (430) (260)Continental Europe 605 18 199 _______ _______ _______ 3,330 3,091 3,663 Unallocated central costs (79) (76) (154) _______ _______ _______Profit before investment income 3,251 3,015 3,509 _______ _______ _______ 3. Earnings per share The earnings per share for the six months to 30 June 2007 is based on theearnings of £2,583,000 (2006, £2,978,000) and on a weighted average number ofOrdinary Shares in issue of 73,473,564 (2006, 72,918,862). The earnings pershare for the twelve months to 31 December 2006 is based on the earnings of£3,652,000 and a weighted average number of Ordinary Shares in issue of73,115,031. The diluted earnings per share for the six months to 30 June 2007has been calculated by reference to a weighted average number of Ordinary Sharesof 75,552,061 (2006, 74,280,812, year ended 31 December 2006, 74,469,114) whichtakes account of share options. 4. Post balance sheet events The Directors have proposed an interim dividend of 0.70 pence per share (2006,0.66 pence per share), which will be paid on 16 November 2007 to shareholders onthe register at close of business on 2 November 2007. Based on the number ofshares in issue at 30 June 2007, the interim dividend will be £515,000 (2006,£485,000). INDEPENDENT REVIEW REPORT TO BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC Introduction We have been instructed by the Company to review the financial information forthe six months ended 30 June 2007 which comprises the income statement,statement of recognised income and expense, balance sheet, statement of changesin equity, cash flow statement, accounting policies and related notes set out onpages 8 to 16. We have read the other information contained in the interimreport and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements or materialinconsistencies with the financial information. This report, including the conclusion, has been prepared for and only for theCompany for the purpose of meeting the requirements of the Listing Rules of theFinancial Services Authority and for no other purpose. We do not, therefore inproducing this report, accept or assume responsibility for any other purpose orto any other person to whom this report is shown or into whose hands it may comesave where expressly agreed by our prior consent in writing. Directors' responsibilities The interim report, including the financial information contained therein, isthe responsibility of, and has been approved by the directors. The directors areresponsible for preparing the interim report in accordance with the ListingRules of the Financial Services Authority. The accounting policies are consistent with those that the directors intend touse in the next annual financial statements. Review work performed We conducted our review in accordance with guidance contained in Bulletin 1999/4issued by the Auditing Practices Board for use in the United Kingdom. A reviewconsists principally of making enquiries of group management and applyinganalytical procedures to the financial information and underlying financial dataand based thereon, assessing whether the disclosed accounting policies have beenconsistently applied unless otherwise disclosed. A review excludes auditprocedures such as tests of controls and verification of assets, liabilities andtransactions. It is substantially less in scope than an audit and thereforeprovides a lower level of assurance. Accordingly, we do not express an auditopinion on the financial information. Review conclusion On the basis of our review we are not aware of any material modifications thatshould be made to the financial information as presented for the six monthsended 30 June 2007. Baker Tilly UK Audit LLPRegistered Auditor and Chartered Accountants2 Bloomsbury StreetLondonWC1B 3ST 18 September 2007 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Bloomsbury