Bloomsbury Publishing records highest first half earnings since 2008 and resumes divi
Universities giving digital library access to students doing work remotely during the pandemic has boosted sales and profits at Bloomsbury Publishing.
The company was hit at the start of the pandemic when ‘non-essential’ retailers were ordered to temporarily shut shops for part of the lockdown.
But, stores that stocked Bloomsbury books were able to reopen from June in England, and the firm has also experienced online growth.
The publisher, led by Nigel Newton who founded the business in 1986, saw sales in its digital resources arm leap 47% in the six months to August 31. The division sells collections of academic e-books to universities.
The company said it was “well placed to benefit from the accelerated shift by academic institutions to digital products to support remote learning”.
Group first-half revenues improved 10% to £78.3 million, with the firm also reporting good demand in its consumer arm for books including Why I'm No Longer Talking to White People about Race, Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood, White Rage, Humankind and Such A Fun Age.
In the children’s section, which includes the series Kid Normal and the Final Five, sales increased 18%.
Newton said: "Bloomsbury experienced excellent trading in the first half with year-on-year profit growth of 60% to £4 million. This has delivered our highest first half earnings since 2008 and exceeded the board's expectations.”
The firm is resuming an interim dividend of 1.28p per share, in line with last year.
Shares in Bloomsbury increased 30.3p to 240.3p.
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