Bloomsbury Publishing's (LON:BMY) Nigel Newton talks to Proactive London's Katie Pilbeam about their 'spectacular' February as Sarah Maas 'A Court of Silver Flam' gave the 'final sprint over the line' as an international number one bestseller.
The firm has revised up its profit forecast for the second time this year and Newton says 'there is every reason' to believe that this reading revival will be sustained, believing many people will stick with it after 'rediscovering the cheer joy of turning the pages rapidly of a really absorbing book'.
Consensus forecasts for the year prior to the latest update were revenues of £171mln and profit of £14.8mln. Revenue is now expected to be ‘ahead’ and profit ‘significantly ahead’ of upgraded market expectations for the year ending 28 February 2021.
Newton says the very fact that the publisher is having it's best year in 2021 is 'jaw dropping' and is hopeful for a 'new boom' as the bookshops in the UK get set to open on April 12th.