Publishing group Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LON:BMY) said performance for the current financial year will be well ahead of its previous expectations.
The group said the expected outperformance was down to the acquisition of IB Tauris and a strong autumn book list that will include releases from its two fantasy queens, Sarah J Maas and JK Rowling, plus another cookery title from Tom Kerridge.
READ: Bloomsbury Publishing strengthens academic arm with IB Tauris acquisition
The upbeat outlook statement accompanied the results statement covering the year to the end of February, which showed that revenues grew 13% to £161.5mln from £142.6mln the year before, while adjusted profit before tax rose 10% to £13.2mln from £12.0mln a year earlier.
The group enjoyed a strong cash conversion rate of 161%, albeit down from 180% the year before, and ended the reporting period with net cash of £25.4mln, up from £15.5mln at the end of February 2017.
The board has proposed a final dividend of 6.36p, making the full-year pay-out 7.15p, 12% higher than the 6.7p paid out the previous year.
“It has been a great year that has put Bloomsbury in a very strong and exciting position. We have seen significant progress in both segments of our business,” said Nigel Newton, the chief executive officer of Bloomsbury.
Pulled Duck Bun - shot as a recipe card for Tom Kerridge’s at The Butcher’s Tap in Marlow @marlowbutchers. It’s both butchers shop and pub. Food styling by Nick Beardshaw @NJBeardy83 and Nicole Herft @eat_love_travel photography by https://t.co/weAXIi9Fpu pic.twitter.com/Nk5gSfzoBq
— Cristian Barnett (@Cris_Barnett) May 21, 2018
“In Consumer, we saw revenue growth of 20%, increasing across all territories, driven by Children's and Cookery titles. Tom Kerridge's Lose Weight for Good was a notable standout, selling the most copies in a week in January since records began. In the milestone twentieth anniversary year for Harry Potter we continued to demonstrate our ability to find inventive and engaging ways to bring the story to life for readers, publishing a House edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and the illustrated Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
“In Non-Consumer, our Academic & Professional division continues to benefit from the Bloomsbury 2020 strategic growth initiative as we look to accelerate digital revenues significantly and become a leading publisher in the B2B [business-to-business] academic and professional market.
“Bigger Bloomsbury marks the next exciting step in our growth, focussing on our key growth drivers with targeted strategies across the business to help grow our revenues and improve our margins over the next five years," he concluded.
Broker Numis Securities said the profit before tax of £13.2mln was a shade above its forecast of £13mln, which it raised from £12mln after the upbeat trading update in March.
For the current year, it has increased its profit before tax and earnings per share (EPS) forecasts by 9% to £14.2mln and 14.2p respectively, and introduced new estimates for next year of £16mln (profit before tax) and 15.9p (EPS).
Shares in Bloomsbury were up 8.7% at 225p.
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