Curling up with a good book is back in fashion again according to the latest sales numbers from the Publishers Association, the sector’s trade body.
Consumer sales jumped 7% to £2.1bn in 2020 led by fiction titles and audiobooks, which saw a 37% bounce as people looked for ways to endure prolonged periods of lockdown.
Stephen Lotinga, chief executive said hailed the industry’s resilience in the face of Covid-19 and said: "It's clear that many people rediscovered their love of reading last year.
"But we shouldn't ignore the fact that it's been a particularly challenging year for education publishers and many smaller publishers.
The Publishers Association said academic sales also did well in 2020 with income up by 3% to £3.3bn out of total overall book sales of £6.4bn, up by 2%.
Sales of school textbooks and word books were one area of weakness and fell by a fifth.
Last month, Nigel Newton, chief executive of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LON:BMY) said that the popularity of reading during lockdown had been one ray of sunshine in an otherwise very dark year.
Bloomsbury, which publishes the Harry Potter books series and has a growing academic arm, has upgraded its profit expectations twice this year already due to the upsurge in reading.
The group acquired Red Globe Press from Springer Nature Group earlier this week.
The price is attractive, and for a small deal the accretion is noticeable, broker Peel Hunt said today.
“The deal is consistent with the stated group strategy, so a welcome move strategically,” said the broker, which has a 325p target price.
Shares were 304p today.