- Publisher’s annual pre-tax profits decreased by 22% to £32.5m
Bloomsbury Publishing shares plunged on Thursday after the company posted lower annual profits despite growing turnover.
Shares in the business plummeted 16 per cent to 547p by the early afternoon, making them the FTSE 250’s worst performer by some distance.
The publisher of Harry Potter and the popular Sarah J. Maas books revealed its pre-tax profits decreased by 22 per cent to £32.5million in the year ending 28 February.
Profits in its consumer arm fell to £31million, having more than doubled to £37.4million in the previous 12 months thanks to soaring demand for Sarah J Maas titles.
Bloomsbury’s overall revenue still tipped up by 5 per cent to £361million thanks to the takeover of academic publisher Rowman & Littlefield, which contributed £19.8million in sales during the year.
Described as a ‘game-changer’ by Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury’s founder and chief executive, the £65million acquisition was the largest in the firm’s history.
Bad spell: Bloomsbury, which published the Harry Potter books written by JK Rowling (pictured), revealed its pre-tax profits decreased by 22% to £32.5million last year
It has also helped compensate for budgetary pressures impacting the UK and US higher education markets.
More British universities are recording financial deficits owing to National Insurance contribution hikes and overseas student numbers falling following new restrictions on bringing dependents.
Meanwhile, US colleges are struggling with declining enrolment levels, partly caused by lower birth rates.
Combined with sales of print academic books dropping because of the shift towards digital learning, Bloomsbury’s academic and professional organic revenues slipped by 10 per cent in the last fiscal year.
Amidst subdued trade in the UK and the US, Bloomsbury is shifting its attention to Asia.
The company intends to open an office in Singapore later this year to try and capitalise on the continent’s soaring student population.
The World Bank predicts there will be 600 million higher education students globally by 2040, of which over 60 per cent will be in Asia.
Newton said the focus on Asia means Bloomsbury will be ‘well placed geographically and structurally to benefit from student growth alongside the continued shift to digital learning.’
He added that the company expected trading for the 2026 financial year to align with consensus forecasts, with turnover totalling £349.2million and profits before tax and highlighted items rising to £45.1million.
Among the Bloomsbury books due for release in the coming months include the crime novel A Case of Life and Limb by Sally Smith, Celebrate: Joyful Baking All Year Round by Paul Hollywood, and the paperback version of Gillian Anderson’s Want.
Newton added: ‘The resilience of demand for Bloomsbury titles and the excellent sales of our digital products demonstrate the strength of our long-term growth strategy, the publishing judgement of our editors, the reach of our sales and marketing and value of our content.’
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This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .