What the company does
Most people who know of Bloomsbury, probably know it as the Harry Potter publisher.
It doesn’t shy from the soar-away success of JK Rowling’s boy wizard but to see Bloomsbury as a one franchise wonder is to miss the point.
Other major authors include Sarah J Maas, Lisa Taddeo and Lara Maiklem
To see it purely as a fiction publisher is also an error.
Top chef Tom Kerridge has been a huge seller for Bloomsbury in recent years, for instance.
It has two arms:
- Its consumer division consists of Adult and Children's trade publishing
- The non-consumer operation is made up of Academic & Professional, Special interest and content services
The finances
For the six months ended 31 August, Bloomsbury's revenue and pre-tax profit before highlighted items were both lower year-on-year at £71.3mln and £2.5mln, respectively.
Cash at the end of the period was £20.1mln, up 15% compared to last year, and the firm hiked its interim dividend by 6% to 1.28p.
“Our strong financial position and good cash generation, with a £3.1 million increase in cash since 31 August 2018, give us significant opportunities for further acquisitions and investment in organic growth,” said Bloomsbury's chief executive Nigel Newton in a statement.
“With a proposed interim dividend increase of 6%, we are on track to deliver our 25th year of consecutive dividend growth,” he added.
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Inflexion points
- The dividend has risen for twenty-five years running
- Roster for second half of 2019 is strong
- Cash generation leaves it well placed for acquisitions
