Bloomsbury reports strong performance in first half |
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Tue, 19 Sep 2006 12:35
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LONDON - Bloomsbury Publishing PLC today reported a 3.5 percent rise in first half profits thanks to strong trading in the US and Germany. The group, which publishes Harry Potter sagas, said that the profits were in line with expectations.
The company said that it had made pretax profits of 4.22 million pounds in the six months ending June 30. Revenues for the period were up 6.5 percent to 37.7 million pounds. The second half of the year also looks good since the adult and children's version of the "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", will be launched during the period.
"The group's publishing programme for the second half of the year is one of the strongest to date and includes books from some of our best-selling authors and potential bestsellers from new authors," said a statement issued by Bloomsbury chairman Nigel Newton. "The second half has started well with trading in line with our expectations, and the board remains confident of a satisfactory outcome to the year."
Margaret Atwood, chancellor Gordon Brown and Joanna Trollope are among the writers of Bloomsbury. The company said that sales in the US increased by 46 percent, while those in Germany were up 24 percent. It said that the line-up for the second half of the year was "one of the strongest to date". These books are thought to include a non-fiction book by Chancellor Gordon Brown.
Analysts at Numis Securities said the company will benefit from Harry Potter. "The final hardback book will be followed by a paperback edition, probably in the subsequent year. In turn this will be followed by a box-set of all seven books and celebratory editions to coincide with film releases," Numis said.
Bloomsbury raised the interim divided by 10 percent to 0.66 penny.
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Sixth Potter book could break previous record: Bloomsbury 