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Bloomsbury Publishing PLC on Thursday reported first-half declines in revenue and profit, but expressed confidence in its outlook for the full-year.
The London-based publisher reported pretax profit of £18.3 million for the six months that ended August 31, down 17% from £22.1 million a year prior.
Revenue fell 11% to £159.5 million from £179.8 million
In its Academic & Professional division, revenue grew 20% to £46.1 million from £38.5 million. This includes revenue from a non-exclusive AI licensing agreement Bloomsbury signed within the first half.
However, Consumer revenue declined 20% to £113.4 million from £141.3 million.
Bloomsbury said the Consumer division had ‘performed in line with expectations’, noting that it had a ‘strong’ prior year comparative due to ‘exceptional’ sales from Sarah J. Maas’ House of Flame and Shadow in January 2024.
Bloomsbury said it has a ‘strong’ list of publications for the second half of the year.
The company declared an interim dividend of 4.09 pence per share, up 4.9% from 3.89p a year prior.
Shares in the company were up 4.3% at 509.00p on Thursday afternoon in London.
Looking to the full-year ending February 28, Bloomsbury said it expects to deliver profit before taxation and highlighted items ahead of market expectations of £41.6 million. Last year, the company reported profit before taxation and highlighted items of £42.1 million.
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