REG - BloomsburyPublishing - Trading Update

Bloomsbury PublishingAnnouncement

07/12/2023 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
http://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20231207:nRSG9365Va&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 9365V  Bloomsbury Publishing PLC  07 December 2023

BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC

("Bloomsbury" or "the Company")

Revenue comfortably ahead and profit materially ahead of expectations

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMY), the leading independent publisher, is
pleased to announce the following update on trading.

Revenue is now expected to be comfortably ahead and profit before taxation and
highlighted items materially ahead of current market expectations* for the
year ending 29 February 2024. This follows exceptionally strong trading in the
Consumer division for a number of titles and particularly Sarah J. Maas' 15
titles. Bloomsbury has published all of Sarah J. Maas' books throughout the
world and has seen excellent growth in the backlist. The Non-Consumer division
continues to trade in line with current expectations.

Other important bestsellers in the Consumer division in the second half of the
year to date include Ghosts, the companion book to the BBC television series,
Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Air Fryer Cookbook by Poppy O'Toole, Pub
Kitchen by Tom Kerridge, The House of Doors by Tan Twan Eng in the US, the
Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, the official companion to J.K. Rowling's
books, We're Going on a Sleigh Ride by Martha Mumford and Cherie Zamazing and
the Waterstones Book of the Year 2023, Impossible Creatures by Katherine
Rundell. Rundell's fantasy novel is the first children's book to win the
prestigious award in six years.

Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, commented: "I am delighted to report a strong
period of trading which is principally driven by the continued phenomenal
demand for fantasy fiction. Bloomsbury has consistently built its success on
the immense talent of our authors and the exceptional hard work of our teams
who support them."

The Company will provide a further trading update on performance for the year
ended 29 February 2024 in March 2024.

* The Board considers that the consensus market expectation for the year
ending 29 February 2024 is currently revenue of £274.2 million and profit
before taxation and highlighted items of £32.9 million.

For further information, please contact:

 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
 Nigel Newton, Chief Executive                 nigel.newton@bloomsbury.com (mailto:nigel.newton@bloomsbury.com)
 Penny Scott-Bayfield, Group Finance Director  penny.scott-bayfield@bloomsbury.com
                                               (mailto:penny.scott-bayfield@bloomsbury.com)
 Hudson Sandler                                +44 (0) 20 7796 4133
 Dan de Belder / Hattie Dreyfus                bloomsbury@hudsonsandler.com (mailto:bloomsbury@hudsonsandler.com)

 

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Group to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations
(EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the publication of this announcement via a
Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.

The information in this announcement has not been audited or otherwise
independently verified and no representation or warranty, express or implied,
is made as to, and no reliance should be placed on, the fairness, accuracy,
completeness or correctness of the information or opinions contained herein.
None of the Company or any of its affiliates, advisors or representatives
shall have any liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss
whatsoever arising from any use of this announcement, or its contents, or
otherwise arising in connection with this announcement.

This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation
to sell, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase any shares in the
Company, nor shall it or any part of it or the fact of its distribution form
the basis of, or be relied on in connection with, any contract or commitment
or investment decisions relating thereto, nor does it constitute a
recommendation regarding the shares of the Company.

Certain statements, statistics and projections in this announcement are or may
be forward looking. By their nature, forward‑looking statements involve a
number of risks, uncertainties or assumptions that may or may not occur and
actual results or events may differ materially from those expressed or implied
by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that
any particular expectation will be met and reliance should not be placed on
any forward-looking statement. Accordingly, forward-looking statements
contained in this announcement regarding past trends or activities should not
be taken as representation that such trends or activities will continue in the
future. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements,
which are based on the knowledge and information available only at the date of
this announcement's preparation.

The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or keep current the
information contained in this announcement, including any forward‑looking
statements, or to correct any inaccuracies which may become apparent and any
opinions expressed in it are subject to change without notice.

References in this announcement to other reports or materials, such as a
website address, have been provided to direct the reader to other sources of
information on Bloomsbury Publishing Plc which may be of interest. Neither the
content of Bloomsbury's website nor any website accessible by hyperlinks from
Bloomsbury's website nor any additional materials contained or accessible
thereon, are incorporated in, or form part of, this announcement.

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTFLFFDFSLRIIV