Latest results

Audited Preliminary Results for the year ended 28 February 2021

Excellent revenue and profit performance
Third profit upgrade
Special dividend declared

Bloomsbury, the leading independent publisher, today announces audited results for the year ended 28 February 2021, ahead of expectations. 

Commenting on the results, Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, said:

“The popularity of reading has been a ray of sunshine in an otherwise very dark year.  In an outstanding year for Bloomsbury, we delivered record results with sales up 14% to £185.1 million compared to the industry which was up 2%¹. Our profit before tax and highlighted items⁴ of £19.2 million showed an increase of 22% over the prior year. These results are ahead of expectations and represent our third upgrade this year. These performances demonstrate the strength and resilience of our strategy of publishing for both the general and academic market.

Our Consumer division delivered a stellar performance, with profit before tax and highlighted items⁴ up by 61% to £14.2 million, including excellent revenue growth of 22% across the Adult and Children’s divisions. Our diverse Consumer portfolio included backlist titles which really struck a chord with readers throughout the pandemic on themes such as humanity, social inclusion, escapism, fantasy, cookery and baking.

In our Non-Consumer division, Bloomsbury Digital Resources achieved phenomenal growth of 49%, with £12.4 million revenue. Our academic digital growth also significantly outperformed the UK market, with our digital resource strategy, conceived six years ago, ahead of and benefitting from the structural shift to online learning.

In light of our strong financial position and cash generation, and the importance of delivering attractive shareholder returns in accordance with our dividend policy, the Board proposes an increase of 10% to our final dividend². The Board greatly appreciates the support of our shareholders during such unprecedented circumstances last year, and we are also proposing a special dividend of 9.78 pence per share. 

Since the year end, we have achieved another key step in the delivery of our long term growth strategy expanding our Non-Consumer business, with the acquisition of the Red Globe Press list. Acquiring these complementary lists accelerates our digital growth and our significant presence in humanities and social sciences academic publishing.

Considering the ongoing momentum and strength of our business, Bloomsbury expects revenue to be ahead and profit to be comfortably ahead of market expectations for the year ended 28 February 2022³.

I would like to express my thanks to our staff, authors, illustrators, printers, distributors and suppliers for their outstanding work and profound resilience over the last year. Our ability to adapt to the rapidly changing conditions, together with the strength of our strategy supported by our strong financial position, has enabled Bloomsbury to emerge even stronger from this crisis and deliver this excellent performance.”

Financial Highlights

• Revenues increased by 14% to £185.1 million (2019/20: £162.8 million)
• Profit before taxation and highlighted items⁴ grew by 22% to £19.2 million, up from £15.7 million in 2019/20
• Profit before taxation grew by 31% to £17.3 million (2019/20: £13.2 million)
• Diluted earnings per share, excluding highlighted items⁴, grew by 15% to 18.68 pence (2019/20: 16.23 pence)⁵
• Diluted earnings per share grew by 25% to 16.71 pence (2019/20: 13.40 pence)⁵
• Net cash of £54.5 million at 28 February 2021, up 74% (2020: £31.3 million)
• Cash conversion of 142% (2019/20: 111%)
• Final dividend of 7.58 pence per share (2020: bonus issue with a value equivalent to 6.89 pence per share²)
• Special dividend of 9.78 pence per share

Operational Highlights

Consumer Division

• Outstanding Consumer revenue growth of 22% to £118.3 million (2019/20: £96.8 million)
• Consumer profit before taxation and highlighted items⁴ increased by 61% to £14.2 million (2019/20: £8.9 million)
• Very strong Adult Trade performance, with revenue up 17% to £43.7 million (2019/20: £37.4 million) and profit before taxation and highlighted items⁴ up 145% to £3.9 million (2019/20: £1.6 million)
• Excellent Children’s Trade performance, with revenue growth of 26% to £74.6 million (2019/20: £59.4 million) and profit before taxation and highlighted items³ up 42% to £10.4 million (2019/20: £7.3 million)
• Sales of Sarah J. Maas’ titles grew by 129% and Harry Potter sales grew by 7%
• Appointment of Ian Hudson as Managing Director, Consumer Publishing, and Paul Baggaley, Editor-in-Chief, Adult Consumer Publishing; an industry leading team to drive our ambitious growth plans

Non-Consumer Division

• Resilient Non-Consumer performance, with revenue growth of 1% to £66.8 million (2019/20: £66.0 million)
• Non-Consumer profit before taxation and highlighted items⁴ of £5.4 million (2019/20: £6.7 million)
• Bloomsbury Digital Resources (“BDR”) revenues growth of 49% to £12.4 million (2019/20: £8.3 million) and profit of £2.9 million (2019/20: £0.7 million)
• Digital format sales now comprise 33% of Non-Consumer revenues, a CAGR of 31% over four years
• Good Academic & Professional performance, with revenue growth of 3% to £44.3 million (2019/20: £43.1 million) and profit before taxation and highlighted items⁴ of £4.3 million (2019/20: £4.8 million)
• Acquisition of Red Globe Press’ assets in April 2021 for £3.7 million, accelerating our digital growth and our significant presence in humanities and social sciences academic publishing
• Voted Academic Publisher of the Year at the 2021 British Book Awards
• BDR partnerships with Taylor & Francis and Human Kinetics launched and new partnerships with Yale University Press, Liverpool University Press and the Stratford Festival

Notes

¹ Publishers Association: 2020 UK market up 2% year-on-year.

² 2019/20: bonus issue in lieu of, and with a value equivalent to, proposed final dividend of 6.89 pence per share.

³ The Board considers current consensus market expectation for the year ending 28 February 2022 to be revenue of £177.5 million and profit before taxation and highlighted items of £17.4 million.

⁴ Highlighted items comprise amortisation of acquired intangible assets, legal and other professional costs relating to ongoing and completed acquisitions and restructuring costs, and a grant under the US Government Paycheck Protection Program.

⁵ Restatement of earnings per share due to bonus issue of shares in the year.

Chief Executive's statement

Overview

The popularity of reading has been a ray of sunshine in an otherwise very dark year. The year ended 28 February 2021 saw an outstanding performance by Bloomsbury, with 14% revenue growth to £185.1 million (2019/20: £162.8 million) and a 22% increase in profit before taxation and highlighted items to £19.2 million (2019/20: £15.7 million). Profit before taxation increased by 31% to £17.3 million (2019/20: £13.2 million).

The strength of demand for our titles, in print, e-book and audio, and the surge in sales of our digital products, demonstrate the strength of our long-term growth strategy.

Our Bloomsbury Digital Resources (“BDR”) strategy positioned us well to deliver further growth from the accelerated shift to digital learning, with a 73% increase in the number of Academic customers during the year. BDR delivered 49% revenue growth year-on-year and generated profit of £2.9 million (2019/20: £0.7 million).  

The highlighted items of £1.8 million (2019/20: £2.5 million) consist of the amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £1.8 million (2019/20: £1.7 million), one-off legal and other professional fees relating to the acquisitions and restructuring costs of £1.3 million (2019/20: £0.6 million) and a one-off US government grant under the Paycheck Protection Program of (£1.3 million). The effective rate of tax for the year was 21% (2019/20: 21%). The adjusted effective rate of tax, excluding highlighted items, was 20% (2019/20: 19%). Diluted earnings per share, excluding highlighted items, grew 15% to 18.68 pence (2019/20: 16.23 pence).  Including highlighted items, profit before tax was £17.3 million (2019/20: £13.2 million) and diluted earnings per share grew 25% to 16.71 pence (2019/20: 13.40 pence).

Strategy

Bloomsbury’s long-term growth strategy is aimed at diversifying into digital channels and building quality revenues, increasing earnings and building on the success of the last six years. To achieve this, we are focused on a number of long-term strategic objectives, which include:

• Non-Consumer
• Grow Bloomsbury’s portfolio in Non-Consumer publishing.  Non-Consumer publishing is characterised by higher, more predictable margins and greater digital and global opportunities. 2020/21: delivered 52% growth in Non-Consumer digital.
• Achieve BDR revenue of £15 million and profit of £5 million for 2021/22. 2020/21:  delivered £12.4 million revenue, up 49%, and profit of £2.9 million, up £2.2 million.

• Consumer
• Discover, nurture, champion and retain high-quality authors and illustrators, while looking at new ways to leverage existing title rights. 2020/21: Bestsellers included Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge, Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and Humankind by Rutger Bregman.
• Grow our key authors through effective publishing across all formats alongside strategic sales and marketing. 2020/21: 129% growth in sales of Sarah J. Maas title sales, with both new titles: Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood and A Court of Silver Flames reaching Number One on the New York Times bestseller list.
• As the originating publisher of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter, to ensure that new children discover and read it for pleasure every year. 2020/21: 7% growth in Harry Potter title sales, 23 years after first publication.

The Consumer division consists of Adult and Children’s trade publishing. The Consumer division generated outstanding revenue growth of 22% to £118.3 million (2019/20: £96.8 million). Profit before taxation and highlighted items increased by 61% to £14.2 million (2019/20: £8.9 million). Profit before taxation increased to £14.2 million (2019/20: £8.8 million). The excellent performance was from both the Adult and Children’s divisions, across front and backlist titles.

Bloomsbury’s Consumer growth outperformed the rest of the UK market, in both print and digital formats; the Publishers Association reported Consumer growth of 7% for 2020.

Adult Trade

The Adult division achieved very strong growth with a 17% increase in revenue to £43.7 million (2019/20: £37.4 million) and profit before taxation and highlighted items increasing by 145% to £3.9 million (2019/20: £1.6 million). This was driven by bestsellers from our front and backlist.

Bestsellers in the year from our backlist included the Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge, the Sunday Times bestsellers Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid, Lose Weight and Get Fit by Tom Kerridge and Three Women by Lisa Taddeo. New York Times bestsellers included White Rage by Carol Anderson and Women Rowing North by Mary Pipher. Further backlist bestsellers included Dishoom: From Bombay with Love by Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar and Naved Nasir and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller.

Frontlist success came from new titles including Humankind by Rutger Bregman, the New York Times bestsellers Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and Outlawed by Anna North, The Book of Trespass by Nick Hayes, We Are Bellingcat by Eliot Higgins and The Mask Falling by Samantha Shannon.

Children’s Trade

Children’s sales also delivered excellent growth, with a 26% increase to £74.6 million (2019/20: £59.4 million). Profit before taxation and highlighted items increased by 42% to £10.4 million (2019/20: £7.3 million). Sales of the Harry Potter titles were 7% ahead of last year. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the third bestselling children’s book of the year on UK Nielsen Bookscan. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince were all Sunday Times bestsellers in the year, showing the reach of this classic series, twenty three years after it first began.

Sarah J. Maas’ sales grew by 129% compared to last year, with two new New York Times and Sunday Times bestselling titles published during the year: Crescent City: House of Earth and Blood, in March 2020, and A Court of Silver Flames, in February 2021, and strong backlist sales. Other highlights on the Children’s list included the third in Brigid Kemmerer’s Cursebreaker trilogy, A Vow So Bold and Deadly, Skysteppers by Katherine Rundell, Cinderella is Dead by Kaylynn Bayron, The World Made a Rainbow by Michelle Robinson, illustrated by Emily Hamilton, and Ways to Make Sunshine and Love is a Revolution by Renee Watson.

Non-Consumer Division

The Non-Consumer division consists of Academic & Professional, including Bloomsbury Digital Resources, and Special Interest. Revenues in the division increased by 1% to £66.8 million (2019/20: £66.0 million). Profit before taxation and highlighted items for the Non-Consumer division was £5.4 million (2019/20: £6.7 million). Profit before taxation was £3.6 million (2019/20: £5.0 million).

Academic & Professional revenues increased by 3% to £44.3 million (2019/20: £43.1 million) and profit before taxation and highlighted items was £4.3 million (2019/20: £4.8 million). The accelerated demand for digital products and swift adoption of digital learning by academic institutions helped drive excellent performance of BDR and accelerated demand for e-books, which offset reduced print sales. Our Academic digital growth outperformed the rest of the UK market, with our BDR digital strategy, conceived six years ago, ahead of and benefitting from the market changes. Our achievements were recognised at the 2021 British Book Awards, winning Academic Publisher of the Year.

We are focused on delivering further digital growth from accelerating our established and most successful digital products, including the award-winning Drama Online, building partnerships and launching new products. Key achievements during the year, demonstrating the opportunities to further leverage our digital platforms and content, were: 

• 73% increase in the number of Academic customers during the year
• Maintaining our customer renewal rate above 90%;
• Growth of Bloomsbury Collections to over 13,000 front and backlist Bloomsbury Academic titles; over 40% higher than last year. These include titles from our acquisitions of Oberon and Zed;
• Launch of the new content partnerships with Taylor & Francis and Human Kinetics;
• New partnerships with Yale University Press, Liverpool University Press and the Stratford Festival.

Special Interest revenue was £22.5 million (2019/20: £22.9 million), and profit before taxation and highlighted items was £1.1 million (2019/20: £1.9 million), with resilient demand for wildlife titles, Wisden and Osprey games during the year.

Acquisitions

In March 2020, we acquired certain assets of Zed Books Limited, the academic and non-fiction publisher. The consideration was £1.7 million, of which £1.5 million was satisfied in cash on completion and during the year and the remainder paid in March 2021. Zed has been integrated into Bloomsbury's Academic & Professional division.

During the year we also integrated Oberon Books Ltd (“Oberon”), acquired in December 2019, into the Academic & Professional division, and included its key titles in Drama Online.

Since the year end, in April 2021, we have achieved another key step in the delivery of our strategic growth strategy and driving our Non-Consumer business, with the acquisition of certain assets of Red Globe Press (“RGP”), the academic imprint, from Springer Nature Group as previously announced. The consideration was £3.7 million, £1.8 million of which was satisfied in cash on completion in June 2021. The acquired RGP titles are a good strategic fit, strengthen Bloomsbury’s existing academic publishing, and establish new areas of academic publishing in Business and Management, Study Skills and Psychology. RGP’s three digital products will be migrated to BDR’s own platform and its content added to Bloomsbury Collections.

Bloomsbury has a strong and successful track record in strategic acquisitions, with 17 acquisitions 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 £54.5 million, up £23.1 million, and cash conversion of 142% (2019/20: 111%). During the year we invested £1.1 million of capital expenditure in BDR and £1.5 million of the £1.7 million cash consideration for the acquisition of Zed Books Limited.

The Group has an unsecured revolving credit facility with Lloyds Bank Plc. The facility comprises a committed revolving loan facility of £8 million in the first half and an additional £4 million in the second half, totalling £12 million, to match Bloomsbury’s cashflow cycle, and an uncommitted incremental term loan facility of up to £6 million.  At 28 February 2021, the Group had no draw down (2020: £nil) of this facility.

Dividend

The Group has a progressive dividend policy aiming to keep dividend earnings cover in excess of two times, supported by strong cash cover. The Board is recommending a final dividend of 7.58 pence per share, totalling £6.2 million. Together with the interim dividend, this makes a total dividend for the year ended 28 February 2021 of 8.86 pence per share, an 8% increase on the 8.17 pence value of the dividend for the year ended 29 February 2020.

The Board greatly appreciates the support of our shareholders during such unprecedented circumstances last year and we are also proposing a special dividend of 9.78 pence per share, totalling £8.0 million.

Subject to Shareholder approval at our AGM on 21 July 2021, the final and special dividend will be paid on 27 August 2021 to Shareholders on the register on the record date of 30 July 2021.

Including the proposed 2020/21 final dividend, over the past ten years, the dividend has increased at a compound annual growth rate of 6.5%.

Social Initiatives

As part of Bloomsbury’s ongoing commitment to our wider communities, and in addition to our focus on promoting literature, literacy and education, we actively support numerous organisations worldwide. We published The Book of Hopes: Words and Picture to Comfort, Inspire and Entertain Children, edited by Katherine Rundell, with contributions from more than 110 children’s writers and illustrators. A donation from the sale of each book is made to NHS Charities Together. We also published The World Made a Rainbow, by Michelle Robinson and Emily Hamilton, with a donation from the sale of each book being made to Save the Children. In addition to our donation to Black Lives Matter, in partnership with Waterstones in July 2020, we donated 10% of profits of sales of Reni Eddo-Lodge’s Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race to BTEG and Inquest.

We also supported the Society of Authors emergency appeal fund and The Trussell Trust’s network of foodbanks. These initiatives are in addition to our three-year partnership with the National Literacy Trust, which included our financial support for their emergency appeal to help support children, parents, teachers and schools through the pandemic, our educational resources and activity ideas made available through their website and donation of over 60,000 books. In addition, for every copy of Dishoom: From Bombay with Love sold, we donate towards the price of a meal for a hungry child to both of Dishoom’s chosen charities, Magic Breakfast and The Akshaya Patra Foundation.

Coronavirus Victims

We also share the sad news of the loss of two colleagues in India from coronavirus. Yogesh Sharma, Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing, who passed away in May, was a founding member of Bloomsbury India and his contribution to the growth of the company was vital. Aravind Murthy, Bloomsbury’s India’s Regional Sales Manager-South, passed away in April. Aravind was an amazing sales manager, very dependable, hardworking, focused, and passionate about his work. We will miss them deeply and send our sympathy and support to the families of Aravind and Yogesh and to our colleagues in India.

Board Changes

As announced in December 2020, Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 1 January 2021. Baroness Young also became a member of the Nomination Committee.

In addition, John Warren will step down from the Board at the conclusion of Bloomsbury’s 2021 AGM taking place on 21 July 2021. John joined the Board in 2015 and is the Senior Independent Director and Chair of the Audit Committee. It is intended that John will be succeeded by Leslie-Ann Reed as Chair of the Audit Committee and Senior Independent Director.

Sir Richard Lambert, Chairman of Bloomsbury, said: “On behalf of myself, the Chief Executive, Nigel Newton, and the Board, I would like to thank John for his tremendous contribution to Bloomsbury during his six-year tenure. John has been a wonderful colleague – rigorous, shrewd and good humoured. He will be much missed.”

Future Publishing

Our BDR strategic initiatives include the launch of a new Drama Online collection from the market-leading US drama publisher Theatre Communications Group, expanding Bloomsbury Collections to include more than 7,000 Red Globe Press titles and the migration of Red Globe Press’ three digital products to BDR’s own platform.

Our strong Consumer publishing list for 2021/22 includes Tom Kerridge’s Outdoor Cooking: The Ultimate Modern Barbeque Bible, Lost Focus by Johan Hari, Gino’s Italian Family Adventure by Gino D’Acampo and Animal by Lisa Taddeo.

We will be publishing the Sarah J. Maas’ second Crescent City title, House of Sky and Breath, in January 2022. Our Children’s frontlist for 2021/22 includes Harry Potter – A Magical Year: The Illustrations of Jim Kay, a beautiful new gift book with a moment for every day of the year, Defy the Night, the much-anticipated new series from Brigid Kemmerer, and Renée Watson's new book Ways To Grow Love.

Outlook

The start of our 2021/22 has seen a continuation of strong trading. Whilst the Board remains mindful of the external environment, the outstanding performance in 2020/21 increases our confidence in the strength of the business and long-term strategy.

At this early stage of the new financial year, and considering the ongoing momentum and strength of our business, Bloomsbury expects revenue to be ahead and profit to be comfortably ahead of market expectations for the year ended 28 February 2022.*

* The Board considers current consensus market expectation for the year ending 28 February 2022 to be revenue of £177.5 million and profit before taxation and highlighted items of £17.4 million.

Audited Consolidated Income Statement
For the year ended 28 February 2021

Audited Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income
For the year ended 28 February 2021

Items in the statement above are disclosed net of tax.

Audited Consolidated Statement of Financial Position
As at 28 February 2021

Audited Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity
As at 28 February 2021

Audited Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows
For the year ended 28 February 2021

Notes

Notes to the Financial Statements are available in the printable PDF version