Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LSE:BMY) more than doubled its interim dividend and said it is eyeing more acquistions, as it reported its best half-year sales and profits, and said the business was more balanced across the year than it used to be.
Revenue for the consumer and academic publisher grew 11% to £136.7 million in the six months to 31 August 2023 and profit before tax and one-off items also increased 11% to £17.7 million.
This was the fourth consecutive period of double-digit growth for the group as reading continues to be a popular pastime.
The Consumer division grew revenue 17% to £89.4 million and profit 26% to £11.2 million.
Chief executive Nigel Newton highlighted fantasy as “a huge and increasingly popular genre” that drove revenue in the division, with sales of Sarah J. Maas and Samantha Shannon up 79% and 169% respectively, while demand for Harry Potter, the first in the series now 26 years old, “remains strong”.
Non-Consumer “continued to demonstrate the strength of our long term academic strategy”, Newton said, with revenue up 2% to £47.3 million and profit down 17% to £5.9 million.
Bloomsbury Digital Resources increased subscription revenue 47%.
The board has increased the interim dividend to 3.70p per share, up from 1.41p a year ago, while overall dividend guidance for the full year remains unchanged.
“Bloomsbury's successful strategy of diversifying across formats, markets and territories has created a stronger and more balanced business and a smoother earnings profile across the year,” said Newton.
“Recognising this, and in view of a better balance between sales in the first and second halves of the year than in the past when we were more heavily weighted to the second half and the Christmas market, we are increasing the proportion of the full year dividend paid at the interim.”
Based on this first-half performance, the company is confident of achieving the board's expectations for the full year to 29 February 2024, he said.
With net cash of £39.1 million in the bank, he added that Bloomsbury has “significant opportunities for further acquisitions and investment in organic growth”.