Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LSE:BMY) said it experienced “strong trading” at the start of its new financial year and is confident about its ability to deliver continued success.
Sales in the four months to June 2022 were up 27% on the same period a year ago to £80.3mln, with consumer sales rising 26% and non-consumer up 30%.
The consumer and academic publisher said this performance demonstrated resilience and maintained the momentum from the prior year as did the wider UK book market, which enjoyed record consumer book sales.
Children’s book sales jumped 34%, led by bestselling titles from JK Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, and Sarah J Maas, with the latter having sold just over a million print books to date and with Bloomsbury noting that she is one of the most popular authors on the TikTok social media platform.
Adult consumer sales rose 12%, with bestsellers including Paul Hollywood's Bake.
The non-consumer division growth was driven by continued strong demand for Bloomsbury Digital Resources, with academic and professional titles up 49%, compensating for a 10% decline in special interest books.
Bloomsbury said it traded in line with current market consensus expectations, which it has calculated as £242.6mln of revenue and £26.9mln of profit before tax and exceptional items for the year ending 28 February 2023.