By Jack Mendel
People turning increasingly to books as an affordable hobby in the cost-of-living crisis has helped Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury hike its full-year profit outlook.
The group – which is also the publisher behind Bake Off star Paul Hollywood’s latest cookbook Bake – said it was seeing surging demand for titles in print, ebook and audio, which is helping boost sales and profits, with trading particularly strong in recent months.
It now expects underlying pre-tax profits to be “materially” ahead of expectations, at about £30 million for the year to February 28 on revenues of more than £260 million.
The firm was previously expected to deliver £26.9 million in underlying pre-tax profits and see sales of £242.6 million.
Nigel Newton, chief executive of Bloomsbury, said: “Throughout a year which has been characterised by rising inflation and cost-of-living pressure, it is notable that reading remains hugely popular throughout the world with books regarded by many readers as an affordable pastime.”
Shares in the firm jumped more than 7% higher on the profit cheer.
Recent best-sellers for Bloomsbury include Samantha Shannon’s new novel, A Day of Fallen Night, which was published last month, as well as Johan Hari’s Stolen Focus and Bake by Hollywood.
It also said it had this week signed a further four-book contract with US fantasy author Sarah Maas, on top of the three future books already under contract.
Bloomsbury added that sales were also strong in its academic publishing division, especially for digital resources.
“Two of our strongest performances in the year have come from very disparate ends of our publishing strategy – fantasy novels on the one hand and academic digital resources on the other,” said Mr Newton.
Press Association – Holly Williams
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