("Bloomsbury" or "the Company")
Audited Preliminary Results for the year ended
Success of portfolio of portfolios strategy leads to exceptional sales up 30% and profits up 57% with full year dividend up 25%
Revenue and profit for 2024/25 upgraded
Commenting on the results,
"We had an outstanding year at Bloomsbury with exceptional trading leading to the highest revenue and profit in Bloomsbury's 37 year history. Our sales are up £79m, an increase of 30% from £264m to £343m. Profit is up £18m, an increase of 57% from £31m to £49m. This dramatic increase arises from our entrepreneurial diversification strategy which has forged a portfolio of portfolios combining consumer and academic publishing across formats, territories and subject areas, a resilient model delivering long-term success.
Consumer revenue growth was 49%. Recent success has been principally driven by the increasing demand for fantasy fiction.
Bloomsbury Digital Resources increased sales to £27m and remains on course to achieve its target of c.£37m turnover in 2027/28 though Non-Consumer sales were slightly down by 4% to £93.4 million. Bloomsbury is well placed, despite the end of US government COVID relief funding, to capitalise on the continued structural shift to digital learning and is confident in the long-term growth opportunities of the Non-Consumer division given the significant growth projections for higher education.
In recognition of this performance and in accordance with our progressive dividend policy, the Board recommends a final dividend of
Trading for 2024/25 is expected to be slightly ahead of current consensus expectation1. Expectations for 2024/25 reflect the exceptional performance in 2023/24, and that we are not expecting to publish a new
Bloomsbury has a clear strategy. Our strong cash generation and balance sheet enables us to continue investing in innovative content and authors, as well as capitalising on emerging opportunities. As a result of these strengths, the genius of our authors and the skill of our people worldwide at our unique combination of literary and scholarly publishing, we remain confident in Bloomsbury's ability to deliver continued success."
Note
The Board considers consensus market expectation (before this publication) for the year ending
For further information, please contact:
tamsin.garrity@bloomsbury.com
+44 (0) 20 7796 4133
bloomsbury@hudsonsandler.com
Financial Highlights
2023/24
2022/23
2021/22
'24 vs '23
'24 vs '22
Revenue
£342.7m
£264.1m
£230.1m
30%
49%
Profit before taxation and highlighted items1
£48.7m
£31.1m
£26.7m
57%
82%
Profit before taxation
£41.5m
£25.4m
£22.2m
63%
87%
Adjusted diluted earnings per share
46.62p
30.56p
25.94p
53%
80%
Diluted earnings per share
39.11p
24.54p
20.33p
59%
92%
Net cash
£65.8m
£51.5m
£41.2m
28%
59%
Final dividend per share
10.99p
10.34p
9.40p
6%
17%
Total dividend per share
14.69p
11.75p
10.74p
25%
37%
Operational Highlights
Consumer Division
Consumer revenue growth of 49% to £249.2m (2022/23: £166.7m)
Consumer profit before taxation and highlighted items1 up 108% to £37.8m (2022/23: £18.1m)
Commercial and literary success across the portfolio with exceptional performance from sales of
Non-Consumer Division
Non-Consumer revenue was £93.4m (2022/23: £97.4m)
Non-Consumer profit before taxation and highlighted items1 was £9.9m (2022/23: £13.1m)
Academic & Professional revenue was £70.5m (2022/23: £75.7m) and profit before taxation and highlighted items1 was £9.3m (2022/23: £12.4m)
Bloomsbury Digital Resources ("BDR") revenue growth of 2% to £26.6m (2022/23: £26.2m)
Reiterate BDR target to achieve c.£37m of turnover with 40% organic revenue growth over five years to 2027/28.
Client Executive
+44 20 7796 4133 | www.hudsonsandler.com
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(C) 2024 M2 COMMUNICATIONS, source