Highest ever sales and profit
Bloomsbury, the leading independent publisher, today announces audited results for the year ended 28 February 2022.
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Commenting on the results, Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, said:
“Bloomsbury achieved its highest ever results with sales up 24% to £230.1 million and profits up 40% to £26.7 million. Sales were up 41% and profits up 70% from two years ago. Both the Consumer and Non-Consumer divisions gave outstanding and resilient performances, highlighting Bloomsbury’s unique strength in combining general and academic publishing.
The question on all of our minds was: would the pandemic surge in reading continue? We now know the answer: reading has become a reacquired habit and continues to thrive. The pandemic made us all re-evaluate how we spend our time and this has resulted in an increase in sales of books that enable us to explore our hobbies and personal interests such as cooking, fitness, history and reading novels for enlightenment and escape. Our Academic sales have benefitted from the structural shift to online learning. Our success continues to this date with good sales for Bloomsbury’s first quarter. The surge in reading, which seemed to be one of the only rays of light in the darkest days of the pandemic is perhaps now being revealed as permanent, with the simple act of reading shedding light and giving joy to millions of people.
The Consumer division revenue grew by 25%, continuing the momentum of last year, and achieved a 25% increase in profit before tax and highlighted items1 to £17.8 million. The Non-Consumer division saw 23% revenue growth and a 68% increase in profit before tax and highlighted items1 to £9.1 million. Consumer revenue was 53% higher and Non-Consumer revenue 24% higher than two years ago. Bloomsbury Digital Resources (“BDR”) outperformed the target set six years ago of £15 million of sales and £5 million of profit, with sales of £18.6 million, up 50% on last year, and profit of £6.8 million, up £3.9 million on last year. Following this success, we have set ambitious new growth targets for BDR.
Supporting our strong organic growth, we made three acquisitions during the year of ABC-CLIO LLC, the Red Globe Press list and Head of Zeus Limited.
In recognition of our strong performance and in line with our progressive dividend policy, the Board proposes a 24% increase in our final dividend to 9.40 pence per share.
Trading for 2022/23 has started in line with the Board’s expectations. Bloomsbury plans to invest robustly in continued organic growth and further acquisitions based on our strong financial position and proven strategy.”
Financial Highlights
2021/22 | 2020/21 | 2019/20 | Growth 2021/22 vs 2020/21 | Growth 2021/22 vs 2019/20 | |
Revenue | £230.1 million | £185.1 million | £162.8 million | 24% | 41% |
Organic revenue2 | £212.7 million | £185.1 million | £162.8 million | 15% | 31% |
Profit before taxation and highlighted items1 | £26.7 million | £19.2 million | £15.7 million | 40% | 70% |
Profit before taxation | £22.2 million | £17.3 million | £13.2 million | 28% | 68% |
Adjusted diluted earnings per share | 25.94 pence | 18.68 pence | 16.23 pence | 39% | 60% |
Diluted earnings per share | 20.33 pence | 16.71 pence | 13.40 pence | 22% | 52% |
Net cash | £41.2 million | £54.5 million | £31.3 million | (24)% | 32% |
Final dividend | 9.40 pence per share | 7.58 pence per share | Bonus issue, value equivalent to 6.89 pence per share | 24% | 36% |
Operational Highlights
Consumer Division
Non-Consumer Division
Notes
1 Highlighted items comprise amortisation of acquired intangible assets and legal and other professional costs relating to ongoing and completed acquisitions and restructuring costs. (2020/21 also included a grant under the US Government Paycheck
Protection Program.)
2 Organic revenue for 2021/22 is defined as total revenue of £230.1m less revenue attributable to the acquisitions of HoZ, RGP and ABC-CLIO in the year. Organic profit for 2021/22 is defined as total profit before taxation and highlighted items of £26.7 million less profit attributable to the acquisitions of HoZ, RGP and ABC-CLIO in the year.
Overview
Growth in organic revenue was 15%, with the three strategic acquisitions, ABC-CLIO, RGP and HoZ, contributing revenue of £17.4 million. Growth in organic profit before taxation and highlighted items was 28%, with ABC-CLIO, RGP and HoZ contributing
£1.7 million.
The strength 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 and the strength of our sales and marketing. During the year,
Bloomsbury authors have won three of the most important prizes in the literary world - The Nobel Prize in Literature, the Pulitzer Prize in Biography and The Women’s Prize – which were won by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Winfred Rembert and Erin
I. Kelly and Susanna Clarke respectively. We are immensely proud to publish them.
We achieved the major milestone for Bloomsbury Digital Resources (“BDR”) of significantly exceeding the target announced six years ago of £15 million of sales and £5 million of profit by the year ending 28 February 2022. We beat
this target with sales of £18.6 million and profit of £6.8 million (2020/21: £2.9 million). Achieving this goal of building high margin, quality revenues, demonstrates the strength and successful execution of our digital
strategy. We saw growth due to the shift to digital learning, excellent digital products, platforms and infrastructure, with an 18% increase in the number of customers year-on-year. We have strengthened BDR with the acquisitions of RGP and ABC-CLIO.
The highlighted items of £4.6 million (2020/21: £1.8 million) consist of the amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £2.8 million (2020/21: £1.8 million), one-off legal and other professional fees relating to the three acquisitions and restructuring costs of £1.8 million (2020/21: £1.3 million) and, in 2020/21 only, a one-off US Government grant under the Paycheck Protection Program of £1.3 million. The effective rate of tax for the year was 24% (2020/21: 21%). The adjusted effective rate of tax, excluding highlighted items, was 19% (2020/21: 20%). Diluted earnings per share, excluding highlighted items, grew 39% to 25.94 pence (2020/21: 18.68 pence). Including highlighted items, profit before tax was £22.2 million (2020/21: £17.3 million) and diluted earnings per share grew 22% to 20.33 pence (2020/21: 16.71 pence).
Bloomsbury’s long-term growth strategy is aimed at continuing our success in building digital channels, increasing quality revenues and earnings. To achieve this, we are focused the following long-term
strategic objectives:
2021/22: delivered 23% growth in Non-Consumer revenue
2021/22: 86% growth in sales of Sarah J. Maas title sales, with her new title: Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath reaching Number 1 on the New York Times bestseller list. Winner of the 2022 IPG Bookseller Marketing Award.
2021/22: 5% growth in Harry Potter title sales, 24 years after first publication. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the 6th bestselling children’s book of the year on UK Nielsen Bookscan.
2021/22: increased overseas revenues to 66% of Group revenue; 78% of Academic BDR sales are international. US revenues increased to 30% of Group revenue. Acquisition of ABC-CLIO significantly accelerates Bloomsbury’s academic publishing in North America, further growing international revenues.
- Set science-based targets, validated by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi), to reduce carbon emissions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
- Committed to a 46% reduction in our Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030; this reduction is aligned with pursuing efforts to limit global warming to 1.5o C. We have achieved a 40% reduction since 2019/20.
- Our Scope 3 target is a 20% reduction in emissions by 2035. This reduction is in line keeping global temperature increase below 2o C.
- Completed qualitative analysis of climate-related risks and opportunities for our business and operations and progressed adoption of the Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Consumer Division
UK bestsellers in the year included Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, Tom Kerridge’s Outdoor Cooking, Animal by Lisa Taddeo, The Song of Achilles and Circe, by Madeline Miller, Gino’s Italian Family Adventure by Gino D’Acampo, Humankind by Rutger Bregman and The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper. US bestsellers in the year included The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends by Nicole Perlroth won the FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year.
We are proud that Bloomsbury authors have won three of the most important prizes in the literary world – The Nobel Prize for Literature, the Pulitzer Prize in Biography and The Women’s Prize - which were won by Abdulrazak Gurnah, Winfred Rembert and Erin I. Kelly and Susanna Clarke respectively. We congratulate them all.
Sales of the Harry Potter titles increased by 5%. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the 6th bestselling children’s book of the year on UK Nielsen Bookscan, twenty-four years after it first began, showing the enduring
appeal of this classic series.
Sarah J. Maas’ sales grew by 86% compared to last year, with Crescent City: House of Sky and Breath, published in February 2022, reaching number one on the New York Times and Sunday Times bestseller lists, and strong backlist
sales.
Sarah J. Maas is the bestselling author of the Crescent City, Court of Thorns and Roses and Throne of Glass series, with all of her 15 titles published by Bloomsbury, since her first novel, Throne of Glass, in 2012. Hulu is developing a television adaptation of the Court of Thorns and Roses series for its streaming service.
Non-Consumer Division
Academic & Professional revenues increased by 34% to £59.3 million (2020/21: £44.3 million) and profit before taxation and highlighted items increased by 111% to £9.1 million (2020/21: £4.3 million). Profit before taxation was £6.7 million (2020/21: £2.7 million). Strong demand for our digital products delivered 50% growth in BDR revenue and print sales recovered well from last year, up 29%.
We are focused on achieving BDR growth by accelerating our most successful products, including Drama Online, leveraging platforms and content from acquisitions, building partnerships and launching new products. We achieved an 18% increase in the number of customers in the year, and maintained our existing customer retention rate at over 90%. We have further strengthened our portfolio of products with the acquisition of ABC-CLIO’s 32 digital databases and RGP’s three digital platforms.
In recognition of these achievements, we were voted Academic Publisher of the Year at the 2021 British Book Awards and Education Publisher of the Year at the 2022 IPG Awards.
Acquisitions
In June 2021, we completed the acquisition of the issued share capital of HoZ, the independent trade publisher, as previously announced. This acquisition provides a strong addition to Bloomsbury’s Consumer division and support our long-term Consumer
growth strategy, with new high-quality authors and effective publishing across all formats, including ebook and audio. The consideration, net of pre-existing loans, was £7.0 million, of which £5.5 million was satisfied in cash at completion,
with £1.1 million paid in cash post completion, and £0.4 million of deferred consideration payable in cash subject to achievement of Netflix release targets. HoZ won Publisher of the Year at the CWA Daggers Awards and The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper was a number one Times bestseller. Popular writers from HoZ include Dan Jones, Cixin Liu, Nadine Dorries, Victoria Hislop and Lesley Thomson. Cixin Liu’s bestselling science trilogy, The Three-Body Problem, is
currently being filmed for Netflix by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, creators of HBO’s Game of Thrones. HoZ is contributing as planned.
In December 2021, we completed the purchase of the members’ interests of ABC-CLIO, as previously announced. ABC-CLIO is an established academic publisher of reference, non-fiction, online curriculum and professional development materials in both print and digital formats for schools, academic libraries and public libraries, primarily in the USA. Founded in 1955, ABC-CLIO is based in Santa Barbara, California. ABC-CLIO has four imprints and 32 databases that provide curriculum-aligned content and lesson plans, professional development support and student activities to US schools and academic institutions. It has more than 23,000 titles in its portfolio. The consideration was £16.7 million, of which £16.6 million was satisfied in cash on completion and up to £0.1 million will be satisfied in cash post completion.
Bloomsbury has a successful track record in strategic acquisitions, with 18 completed since 2008. We are actively targeting further acquisition opportunities in line with our long-term growth strategy.
Cash and Financing
Bloomsbury’s cash generation was strong with cash at the year end of £41.2 million (2021: £54.5 million) and cash conversion of 194% (2020/21: 142%). During the year we invested £26.6 million in cash consideration net of cash acquired for the acquisitions of ABC-CLIO (£16.3 million), HoZ (£6.6 million) and RGP (£3.1 million) and £1.0 million of capital expenditure
in BDR. We also paid £7.9 million for the 2020/21 special dividend.
The Group has an unsecured revolving credit facility with Lloyds Bank Plc. The facility comprises a committed revolving loan facility of £10.0 million and an uncommitted incremental term loan facility of up to £6.0 million. At 28 February 2022, the Group had no draw down (2021: £nil) of this facility.
Dividend
Subject to Shareholder approval at our AGM on 20 July 2022, the final dividend will be paid on 26 August 2022 to Shareholders on the register on the record date of 29 July 2022.
Board Changes
Steven Hall will step down from the Board at the conclusion of Bloomsbury’s 2022 AGM taking place on 20 July 2022. Steven joined the Board in 2017 and is the Chair of the Remuneration Committee. It is intended that Steven will be succeeded by John
Bason as Chair of the Remuneration Committee.
Sir Richard Lambert, Chairman of Bloomsbury, said: “Steve Hall joined the Bloomsbury Board five years ago, and his deep knowledge of the world of academic and professional publishing has been an invaluable support to the Company as it has built its presence in this sector. He has been a rigorous Chair of the Remuneration Committee, and a lively contributor to Board discussion. We owe him a big vote of thanks.”
Future Publishing
2022 is the 25th anniversary of the original publication of the first Harry Potter, with a special anniversary edition publishing in June 2022 and a series of exciting marketing activities to celebrate this milestone.
Our BDR strategic initiatives include bringing ABC-CLIO’s 32 databases into Bloomsbury Digital Resources, enabling Bloomsbury to scale ABC-CLIO’s digital offering globally. In addition, we will expand Bloomsbury Collections to include the RGP titles and migrate RGP’s digital products to BDR’s own platform.
Trading for 2022/23 has started in line with the Board’s expectations.
Bloomsbury aims to deliver continued success, given the strength and resilience of our proven strategy, combined with our strong financial position, which enables us to invest in continued organic growth and further acquisition opportunities. Digital sales continue to materially increase and are a growing proportion of both revenue and profits.
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28 FEBRUARY 2022
Year ended | Year ended | ||
28 February | 28 February | ||
2022 | 2021 | ||
Notes | £’000 | £’000 | |
Revenue | 2 | 230,110 | 185,136 |
Cost of sales | (107,948) | (85,533) | |
Gross profit | 122,162 | 99,603 | |
Marketing and distribution costs | (29,808) | (23,393) | |
Administrative expenses | (69,675) | (58,267) | |
Share of result of joint venture | (117) | (110) | |
Operating profit before highlighted items | 27,112 | 19,637 | |
Highlighted items | 3 | (4,550) | (1,804) |
Operating profit | 22,562 | 17,833 | |
Finance income | 105 | 120 | |
Finance costs | (486) | (604) | |
Profit before taxation and highlighted items | 26,731 | 19,153 | |
Highlighted items | 3 | (4,550) | (1,804) |
Profit before taxation | 22,181 | 17,349 | |
Taxation | 4 | (5,291) | (3,652) |
Profit for the year attributable to owners of the Company | 16,890 | 13,697 | |
Earnings per share attributable to owners of the Company | |||
Basic earnings per share | 6 | 20.72p | 16.94p |
Diluted earnings per share | 6 | 20.33p | 16.71p |
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28 FEBRUARY 2022
Year ended | Year ended | |
28 February | 28 February | |
2022 | 2021 | |
£’000 | £’000 | |
Profit for the year | 16,890 | 13,697 |
Other comprehensive income | ||
Items that may be reclassified to the income statement: | ||
Exchange differences on translating foreign operations | 1,497 | (2,877) |
Items that may not be reclassified to the income statement: | ||
Remeasurements on the defined benefit pension scheme | (10) | 89 |
Other comprehensive income for the year net of tax | 1,487 | (2,788) |
Total comprehensive income for the year attributable to the owners of the Company | 18,377 | 10,909 |
Items in the statement above are disclosed net of tax.
28 February | 28 February | ||
2022 | 2021 | ||
Notes | £’000 | £’000 | |
Assets | |||
Goodwill | 47,910 | 44,688 | |
Other intangible assets Investments | 40,323 45 | 21,337 162 | |
Property, plant and equipment | 2,319 | 1,846 | |
Right-of-use assets | 10,628 | 11,433 | |
Deferred tax assets | 7,168 | 3,904 | |
Trade and other receivables | 9 | 923 | 1,005 |
Total non-current assets | 109,316 | 84,375 | |
Inventories | 33,816 | 26,774 | |
Trade and other receivables | 9 | 104,879 | 93,542 |
Cash and cash equivalents | 41,226 | 54,466 | |
Total current assets | 179,921 | 174,782 | |
Total assets | 289,237 | 259,157 | |
Liabilities | |||
Retirement benefit obligations | – | 14 | |
Deferred tax liabilities | 3,696 | 2,386 | |
Lease liabilities | 9,961 | 11,135 | |
Provisions | 297 | 232 | |
Total non-current liabilities | 13,954 | 13,767 | |
Trade and other liabilities | 103,028 | 74,341 | |
Lease liabilities | 2,265 | 1,808 | |
Current tax liabilities | 433 | 456 | |
Provisions | 588 | 536 | |
Total current liabilities | 106,314 | 77,141 | |
Total liabilities | 120,268 | 90,908 | |
Net assets | 168,969 | 168,249 | |
Equity | |||
Share capital | 1,020 | 1,020 | |
Share premium | 47,319 | 47,319 | |
Translation reserve | 8,127 | 6,630 | |
Other reserves | 8,765 | 9,623 | |
Retained earnings | 103,738 | 103,657 | |
Total equity attributable to owners of the Company | 168,969 | 168,249 |
AS AT 28 FEBRUARY 2022
Share capital £’000 | Share premium £’000 | Translation reserve £’000 | Merger reserve £’000 | Capital redemption reserve £’000 | Share-based payment reserve £’000 | Own shares held by EBT £’000 | Retained earnings £’000 | Total equity £’000 | |
At 29 February 2020 | 942 | 39,388 | 9,507 | 1,803 | 22 | 6,724 | (771) | 92,058 | 149,673 |
Profit for the year | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 13,697 | 13,697 |
Other comprehensive income | |||||||||
Exchange differences on translating foreign operations | – | – | (2,877) | – | – | – | – | – | (2,877) |
Remeasurements on the defined benefit pension scheme | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 89 | 89 |
Total comprehensive income for the year | – | – | (2,877) | – | – | – | – | 13,786 | 10,909 |
Transactions with owners | |||||||||
Issue of share capital | 47 | 7,931 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 7,978 |
Bonus issue of share capital | 31 | – | – | – | – | – | – | (31) | – |
Dividends to equity holders of the Company Purchase of shares by the Employee Benefit Trust | – – | – – | – – | – – | – – | – – | – (674) | (1,045) – | (1,045) (674) |
Share options exercised | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1,298 | (1,114) | 184 |
Deferred tax on share-based payment transactions | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3 | 3 |
Share-based payment transactions | – | – | – | – | – | 1,221 | – | – | 1,221 |
Total transactions with owners of the Company | 78 | 7,931 | – | – | – | 1,221 | 624 | (2,187) | 7,667 |
At 28 February 2021 | 1,020 | 47,319 | 6,630 | 1,803 | 22 | 7,945 | (147) | 103,657 | 168,249 |
Profit for the year | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 16,890 | 16,890 |
Other comprehensive income | |||||||||
Exchange differences on translating foreign operations | – | – | 1,497 | – | – | – | – | – | 1,497 |
Remeasurements on the defined benefit pension scheme | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | (10) | (10) |
Total comprehensive income for the year | – | – | 1,497 | – | – | – | – | 16,880 | 18,377 |
Transactions with owners | |||||||||
Dividends to equity holders of the Company Purchase of shares by the Employee Benefit Trust | – – | – – | – – | – – | – – | – – | – (4,489) | (15,157) – | (15,157) (4,489) |
Share options exercised | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2,084 | (2,050) | 34 |
Deferred tax on share-based payment transactions | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 408 | 408 |
Share-based payment transactions | – | – | – | – | – | 1,547 | – | – | 1,547 |
Total transactions with owners of the Company | – | – | – | – | – | 1,547 | (2,405) | (16,799) | (17,657) |
At 28 February 2022 | 1,020 | 47,319 | 8,127 | 1,803 | 22 | 9,492 | (2,552) | 103,738 | 168,969 |
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 28 FEBRUARY 2022
Year ended 28 February 2022 £’000 | Year ended 28 February 2021 £’000 | |
Cash flows from operating activities | ||
Profit for the year | 16,890 | 13,697 |
Adjustments for: | ||
Depreciation of property, plant and equipment | 512 | 473 |
Depreciation of right-of-use assets | 1,889 | 1,806 |
Amortisation of intangible assets | 7,505 | 5,485 |
Impairment of investments | – | 300 |
Loss on disposal on intangible assets | 65 | – |
Finance income | (105) | (120) |
Finance costs | 486 | 604 |
Share of loss of joint venture | 117 | 110 |
Share-based payment charges | 2,054 | 1,416 |
Tax expense | 5,291 | 3,652 |
34,704 | 27,423 | |
Increase in inventories | (2,745) | (357) |
Decrease/(increase) in trade and other receivables | 1,205 | (11,281) |
Increase in trade and other liabilities | 14,572 | 13,789 |
Cash generated from operating activities | 47,736 | 29,574 |
Income taxes paid | (7,927) | (4,406) |
Net cash generated from operating activities | 39,809 | 25,168 |
Cash flows from investing activities | ||
Purchase of property, plant and equipment | (644) | (422) |
Purchase of intangible assets Purchase of business, net of cash acquired | (3,693) (22,913) | (3,804) – |
Purchase of rights to assets | (3,650) | (1,547) |
Purchase of share in a joint venture | – | (56) |
Interest received | 92 | 110 |
Net cash used in investing activities | (30,808) | (5,719) |
Cash flows from financing activities | ||
Equity dividends paid Purchase of shares by the Employee Benefit Trust Proceeds from exercise of share options | (15,157) (4,489) 34 | (1,045) (674) 184 |
Proceeds from share issue | – | 7,978 |
Repayment of borrowing | (1,097) | – |
Repayment of lease liabilities | (1,862) | (1,451) |
Lease liabilities interest paid | (419) | (442) |
Other interest paid | (55) | (149) |
Net cash (used in)/generated from financing activities | (23,045) | 4,401 |
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents | (14,044) | 23,850 |
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year | 54,466 | 31,345 |
Exchange gain/(loss) on cash and cash equivalents | 804 | (729) |
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year | 41,226 | 54,466 |
Notes to the Financial Statements are available in the printable PDF version
updated every 15 minutes
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