Regulatory announcements

Trading ahead of expectations

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMY), the leading independent publisher, today gives a pre-year end trading update for the 12 months ending 28 February 2021.

Bloomsbury is pleased to announce that revenue is expected to be ahead and profit well ahead of market expectations* for the year ending 28 February 2021.

This follows continued strong trading in the Consumer division, for both Adult and Children’s publishing. Standout bestsellers in the second half to date include the new titles Eat Better Forever by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Outlawed, Joe Biden - American Dreamer and Humankind, as well as strong backlist sales of Harry Potter, Sarah J. Maas, Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race, Such A Fun Age and Dishoom. Nielsen has estimated that the surge in reading has led to the volume of print books sold in the UK during 2020 growing by 5.2% compared with 2019.

Academic and Professional also continues to make good progress in line with our strategic objectives. Our strategy of developing digital resources means we are well placed to benefit from demand from academic institutions during lockdown.

This excellent performance during the global pandemic is testament to the resilience, initiative and determination of our staff, authors, illustrators, customers, distributors and suppliers, together with the strength of our publishing strategy, supported by our strong financial position.

We will provide an update with our preliminary results in June 2021.

Bloomsbury also announces that John Warren will step down from the Board at the conclusion of Bloomsbury’s 2021 AGM taking place in July 2021**. John Warren 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. The Board has also recently been strengthened by the appointment of Baroness Lola Young of Hornsey as a Non-Executive Director, announced in December.

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 five year tenure. John has been a wonderful colleague - rigorous, shrewd and good humoured. He will be much missed.”

* The Board considers that the consensus market expectation for the year ending 28 February 2021 is currently revenue of £161.8 million and profit before taxation and highlighted items of £12.1 million.

** This statement is made in accordance with paragraph 9.6.11(2) of the Listing Rules.

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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.

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