Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LON:BMY) shares jumped nearly 10% higher on Tuesday after the book firm said that it expects revenues to be ‘slightly ahead’ of expectations and profits to be ‘well ahead’ of expectations for the year ended 28 February 2018.
In a trading update, published after the market close on Monday, the FTSE All-Share-listed firm said these results follow excellent sales, particularly in January and February, with lower than anticipated returns, driven by certain titles including Tom Kerridge’s 'Lose Weight For Good'.
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The group added that, according to Nielsen BookScan records, in one week, the Tom Kerridge title sold over 70.000 copies, more than any book has ever sold in the UK in a week in January.
The Harry Potter series publisher also said its net cash balance is now expected to be around £25mln, ‘significantly ahead of expectations.”
Bloomsbury Publishing will report its final results for the year ended 28 February 2018 on 22 May 2018.
In early afternoon trading, Bloomsbury Publishing shares were 7.1% higher at 180p.
Numis raises target price, estimates
In a note to clients, analysts at Numis Securities called the trading update “positive” and raised their target price for Bloomsbury shares to 248p from 238p and reiterated a ‘buy’ rating on the stock, which they said is “one of our key picks in SmallCap Media.”
They also raised their full-year 2018 pre-tax profit/earnings per share forecasts by +8% to £13.0mln/13.9p respectively, up from £12.0mln/12.8p previously.
The Numis analysts said: “We believe the group has strong momentum across both its Consumer and Academic & Professional businesses and see scope for upgrades to our FY19 PBT/EPS of £13.0m/13.0p as we progress through the year, though we maintain them at this early stage.”
The analysts concluded: “We are encouraged by the good progress made by the group in FY18, the peak year of Bloomsbury 2020 investment.”
-- Adds broker comment, updates share price --