Regulatory announcements

Strong outlook underpinning recently upgraded expectations for 2026/27

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMY, “Bloomsbury”, “the Company” or “the Group”), the leading independent publisher, today announces audited results for the year ended 28 February 2026.

Download To view a full version of the results in PDF format click here

 

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

“Bloomsbury is pleased to report revenue of £325.9m with profit¹ of £44.9m, up 7% year on year, with our strategy of combining general and academic publishing, unusual in our industry, delivering success.

Bloomsbury was voted Publisher of the Year 2025. Our Consumer Division has a particularly strong pipeline for 2026/27 including two hugely anticipated new novels in her bestselling series by Sarah J. Maas; Gillian Anderson’s More, the follow-up to her bestseller Want; and remarkable new books from our stable of bestselling authors Katherine Rundell, Samantha Shannon, Louise Kennedy, Dan Jones and Peter Frankopan. The launch of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series on television by HBO Max at Christmas will bring the series to a dramatically expanded readership of the new generations of readers since the launch of the books 29 years ago.

In Academic & Professional, we grew in print, digital and rights revenue in the second half and see encouraging signs of recovery with good growth in all territories in the current financial year. We announced our first participation in AI licensing for academic content in July 2025, and saw the outperformance of our Academic & Professional Division over the past year. Bloomsbury is benefitting from ongoing AI licensing revenue into the future in 2026/27. In addition, we have established Bloomsbury Singapore to spearhead growth in the expanding Asian markets.

In April 2026, we announced a streamlining and simplification of our structure. This has enhanced agility, accountability and financial performance. Separately, we announced a strategic collaboration with Google, focused on technology innovation, AI-powered learning and core publishing infrastructure which is being rolled out across the Company.

In recognition of the achievements of this financial year and our confidence in the outlook, the Board recommends a final dividend of 12.12 pence which contributes to a full year dividend of 16.20 pence per share, an increase of 5% year on year. Bloomsbury has an unbroken 31 year track record of dividend growth every year since flotation in 1994.

Sarah J. Maas recently announced the publication dates of her next two titles, which combined with the strength of our upcoming wider publishing list, led to a trading update upgrading our profit expectations for 2026/27. Pre-orders of our major titles are exceptional. The Board looks to the current year with strong confidence in delivering results in line with these recently upgraded expectations.”

Financial Highlights

• Group revenue of £325.9m (2024/25: £361.0m)
• Group profit before taxation and highlighted items² of £44.9m (2024/25: £42.1m)
• $10m early repayment of Rowman & Littlefield acquisition loan in H1 2025/26
• Net cash £29.2m; prioritising capital allocation to organic growth, debt reduction and dividends with potential for bolt-on acquisitions
• Recommended total dividend increased by 5% year on year to 16.20p per share
• Bloomsbury has an unbroken 31 year track record of dividend growth every year since flotation in 1994

Consumer Division Highlights

• Consumer revenue of £218.2m (2024/25: £277.7m) with a strong comparative
• Profit before tax and highlighted items² of £20.5m (2024/25: £30.3m); restated to include Special Interest
• Bloomsbury voted Publisher of the Year 2025 at the British Book Awards
• Gillian Anderson’s Want was in the Top 10 on the Sunday Times bestseller list for 22 weeks
• Katherine Rundell topped bestseller lists and secured a multi-film deal with Walt Disney Studios
• Sarah J. Maas paperback of House of Flame and Shadow was a bestseller, published in June 2025
• J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series is a bestseller in its 29^th year after publication
• Strong frontlist pipeline for 2026/27 with exceptional pre-orders of major titles

Academic & Professional (“A&P”) Division Highlights

• A&P revenue £107.7m (2024/25: £83.3m) and profit before tax and highlighted items £25.0m (2024/25: £12.5m) with margin of 23% (2024/25: 15%)
• IP value of academic content enabled us to sign our first non-exclusive AI licensing agreement
• Rowman & Littlefield integration substantially complete
• Encouraging signs of recovery with good growth in all territories in the current financial year

Operational Highlights

• Keith Underwood started as Chief Financial and Operating Officer in February 2026
• Bloomsbury Singapore opened to expand Bloomsbury’s direct relationships in Asia and capitalise on growth in student numbers in the region³
• Streamlined and simplified our structure to enhance agility, efficiency and financial performance
• Strategic collaboration with Google focused on technology innovation, AI-powered learning and core publishing infrastructure
• Successfully moved our UK distribution and warehousing arrangements to Hachette
• Earned the Great Place to Work certification for the second consecutive year

Full Year Results	2025/26	2024/25	2023/24	2022/23
Revenue	£325.9m	£361.0m	£342.7m	£264.1m
Profit before taxation and highlighted items2	£44.9m	£42.1m	£48.8m	£31.1m
Profit before taxation	£34.2m	£32.5m	£41.5m	£25.4m
Adjusted diluted earnings per share	44.57p	41.45p	46.62p	30.56p
Diluted earnings per share	32.80p	30.71p	39.11p	24.54p
Net cash4	£29.2m	£17.0m	£65.8m	£51.5m
Final dividend per share	12.12p	11.54p	10.99p	10.34p
Total dividend per share	16.20p	15.43p	14.69p	11.75p

Notes

¹ Profit before taxation and highlighted items.

² Highlighted items comprise amortisation of acquired intangible assets and legal and other professional costs relating to ongoing and completed acquisitions, integration and restructuring costs.

³ World Bank estimates that by 2040 there could be 600m students with over 60% in Asia.

⁴ Net cash is cash and cash equivalents less borrowings.

Bloomsbury will be hosting a meeting for analysts and Shareholders at 9am which is available via this link: https://sparklive.lseg.com/BloomsburyPublishing/events/4f164f11-6266-41ed-af75-80ce63903633/bloomsbury-full-year-results

Chief Executive’s statement

Overview

Bloomsbury achieved 2025/26 Group revenue of £325.9m and profit up 7% year on year to £44.9m with a margin of 13.8%. We have successfully pursued our long-term strategy of combining consumer and academic publishing which has created a portfolio of portfolios - a model that continues to provide Bloomsbury with diversification and resilient success.

The Consumer Division had a strong comparative given its strength last year. Our bestselling and award-winning fiction lists resulted in Bloomsbury being voted Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards in May 2025. Gillian Anderson’s Want remained in the Top 10 of the Sunday Times paperback bestseller list for 22 weeks. The frontlist for 2026/27 is strong and includes many of our bestselling authors such as Sarah J. Maas, Gillian Anderson, Katherine Rundell, Samantha Shannon, Louise Kennedy, Dan Jones, Peter Frankopan alongside the launch of J.K. Rowling’s new Harry Potter TV series that will help introduce it to a generation of readers.

In the Academic & Professional Division, we achieved strong revenue growth, with print, digital and rights and services revenues all growing in the second half and see encouraging signs of recovery with good growth in all territories in the current financial year. The intellectual property value and quality of our academic list enabled us to sign our first non-exclusive AI licensing agreement which is ongoing in 2026/27. We opened Bloomsbury Singapore to capitalise on the forecast growth in the student population in the region.

In December 2025, we announced a strategic collaboration with Google. This is focused on technology innovation, AI-powered learning and core publishing infrastructure. With an advanced AI infrastructure, Bloomsbury will benefit from data-driven and semantic search insights to improve trend analysis and drive book sales across Bloomsbury’s entire catalogue, while custom sales forecasting and print-run optimisation models can improve inventory management. In Academic & Professional we can transform engagement with content through personalisation to improve learning outcomes.

We are progressing with key operational changes to support growth and enhance profitability through financial efficiencies. In April 2026, we announced a restructuring with which we have taken the first steps to simplify and streamline our structure. This has enhanced agility, accountability and positions us for continued expansion.

Group Financials

Bloomsbury’s revenue was £325.9m (2024/25: 361.0m). Group profit before taxation and highlighted items was £44.9m (2024/25: £42.1m). Profit before taxation was £34.2m (2024/25: £32.5m).

Highlighted items totalled £10.7m (2024/25: £9.6m) comprising amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £9.0m (2024/25: £8.4m) and one-off integration and restructuring costs of £1.7m (2024/25: £1.2m).

The effective rate of tax for the year was 21.1% (2024/25: 21.9%), with an adjusted effective rate of tax, excluding highlighted items, of 18.5% (2024/25: 18.8%).

Diluted earnings per share, excluding highlighted items, were 44.57 pence (2024/25: 41.45 pence). Including highlighted items, profit before tax was £34.2m (2024/25: £32.5m) and diluted earnings per share 32.80 pence (2024/25: 30.71 pence).

The Board recommends a 5% increase in the final dividend to 12.12 pence per share, taking the total full year dividend to 16.20 pence per share, an increase of 5% year on year.

Bloomsbury has a net cash position of £29.2m. In the first half we paid down an additional $10.0m of the debt following the acquisition of Rowman & Littlefield, taking the total repaid to $17.5m. The remaining loan of $20.0m matures in May 2027.

Consumer Division

The Consumer Division now consists of Adult, Young Adult and Children’s publishing and Special Interest. From the first half of 2025/26, Special Interest results have been reported within Consumer, following management alignment with the wider Consumer teams; prior period results have been restated. As announced in April 2026, Ian Hudson plans to retire and Kathleen Farrar, previously Managing Director of Group Sales and Marketing, will become the Managing Director of UK Consumer.

The Consumer Division had a strong comparative, with high operational gearing on exceptional sales following the publication of Sarah J. Maas’ House of Flame and Shadow in January 2024. Consumer revenue was £218.2m (2024/25: £277.7m). Profit before taxation and highlighted items was £20.5m (2024/25: £30.3m) with a margin of 9%. Profit before taxation was £19.9m (2024/25: £29.6m).

Bloomsbury was voted Publisher of the Year at the British Book Awards in May 2025 and also won the British Book Awards Publicity Campaign of the Year for Gillian Anderson’s Want. Bloomsbury author Renée Watson won the prestigious Newbery Medal for All the Blues in the Sky.

Sarah J. Maas topped bestseller lists in the UK and US with the paperback launch of House of Flame and Shadow in June 2025. In March 2026, Sarah J. Maas announced the publication dates for the much anticipated next two novels in the A Court of Thorns and Roses (‘ACOTAR’) series which will be published on 27 October 2026 and 12 January 2027 respectively, an exciting moment for her fans.

Harry Potter sales remain robust in the 29^th year after first publication, demonstrating the enduring appeal of this classic series. The publication of J.K. Rowling’s Pocket Potters series began in August with three titles – Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger – with more to come in 2026/27. The forthcoming HBO Max Harry Potter TV series will launch at Christmas 2026 and introduce the books to new readers.

At the start of 2026/27 Alex Aster’s Starside and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s High Fibre Heroes have both been Sunday Times bestsellers. Our publishing list for the rest of 2026/27 is strong and includes:

• Sarah J. Maas new titles in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series to be published on 27 October 2026 and 12 January 2027;
• Katherine Rundell’s The Neverfear, the third in the five book Impossible Creatures series, to be published on 27 August 2026;
• J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Illustrated, to be published on 6 October 2026;
• J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter Pocket Potters series continues with Hagrid and Dobby in August 2026 and Professor McGonagall and Fred & George Weasley in February 2027;
• Gillian Anderson’s follow-up to Want, titled More, to be published on 10 September 2026;
• Samantha Shannon’s The Moth Reborn, the sixth in the Bone Season series, to be published on 18 February 2027;
• Poppy O’Toole’s Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Batch Cookbook to be published on 10 September 2026;
• Stephen Graham’s Letters to Our Sons to be published 8 October 2026;
• Ann Patchett’s Whistler to be published on 2 June 2026;
• Louise Kennedy’s Stations to be published on 24 September 2026;
• Dan Jones The Castles: A Fortified History of the World to be published on 8 October 2026;
• Sheena Dempsey’s Pablo & Splash: Viking Voyage to be published on 4 June 2026;
• Hugh Bonneville’s Rory Sparkes & The Spy Who Loved Tea to be published on 8 October 2026;
• Renée Watson’s Everything New Again to be published on 13 October 2026; and
• Peter Frankopan’s The Earth Transformed Illustrated Edition to be published on 22 October 2026.

Academic & Professional Division

The Academic & Professional Division consists of academic and professional publishing. Special Interest is now reported within the Consumer Division following management alignment with the wider Consumer teams. Jenny Ridout is Global Managing Director of the Academic & Professional Division (A&P) and joined the Group Board in April 2026, as announced.

A&P revenue increased by 29% to £107.7m (2024/25: £83.3m) driven by AI licensing, with print, digital and rights and services revenues all increasing in the second half. Profit before taxation and highlighted items increased to £25.0m (2024/25: £12.5m) with a margin of 23% (2024/25: 15%). Profit before taxation was £16.6m (2024/25: £4.8m).

In July 2025, we announced our first non-exclusive AI licensing agreement which is ongoing in 2026/27. This was enabled by the intellectual property value and quality of our academic list, which had been enhanced with the acquisition of Rowman & Littlefield. Bloomsbury has engaged with our A&P authors with opt-in agreements to enable their titles to be included in AI licensing opportunities. The non-exclusive nature of Bloomsbury’s AI licensing enables us to reach further agreements in the future.

We made significant progress on the integration of Rowman & Littlefield into our business systems and global warehouses. We have released 13,000 Rowman & Littlefield titles onto Bloomsbury Collections, one of the key opportunities for Bloomsbury of the acquisition. We have realised the benefits of the integration through efficiencies in distribution and overhead costs.

We have expanded our business in Asia by opening an office in Singapore to further capitalise on the projected growth in the student population in the region, building on the success of our established offices in Australia and India. It is estimated that by 2040 there could be 600m higher education students globally with over 60% of these in Asia (Calderon, UNESCO). Bloomsbury is well placed geographically and structurally to benefit from student growth alongside the growth of digital learning.

We are experiencing encouraging signs of recovery with good growth in all territories in the 2026/27 financial year.

Cash and Financing

Bloomsbury maintains a robust financial position with net cash at the year-end of £29.2m (2024/25: £17.0m). This consists of cash of £44.0m and a term loan of £14.8m. Capital allocation priorities are internal investment to drive organic growth, debt reduction, dividends and bolt on acquisitions.

The Group has an unsecured term loan with Lloyds Bank Plc, used for the acquisition of Rowman & Littlefield alongside cash. This comprises a committed and remaining drawn term loan of $20.0m (2025: $30.0m) with maturity in May 2027. We have repaid $17.5m of the debt associated with the acquisition of Rowman & Littlefield, $10m of which was in H1 2025/26.

The Group also has an unsecured revolving credit facility with Lloyds Bank Plc of up to £30m. The agreement runs to March 2029. As at 28 February 2026, the Group had no draw down of this facility (2024/25: £nil).

Both facilities are subject to two covenants, being a maximum net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.5x and a minimum interest cover covenant of 4x.

Acquisitions

Bloomsbury has a successful track record in strategic acquisitions, with 34 completed to date. We will continue to assess further acquisition opportunities.

Dividend

The Board is recommending a final dividend of 12.12 pence per share. Together with the interim dividend, this makes a total dividend for 2025/26 of 16.20 pence per share, a 5% increase on the 15.43 pence dividend for 2024/25.

Subject to Shareholder approval at the AGM on 15 July 2026, the final dividend will be paid on 21 August 2026 to Shareholders on the register on the record date of 24 July 2026.

Including the proposed 2025/26 final dividend, the dividend per share has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 13% over the past five years. Bloomsbury has an unbroken 31 year track record of dividend growth since flotation in 1994.

Board Changes

Keith Underwood joined Bloomsbury as Chief Financial and Operating Officer and became a member of Bloomsbury’s Board of Directors on 2 February 2026. Keith previously held the same role at Guardian Media Group and Channel 4.

Following the period end, we announced the appointment of Jenny Ridout to Bloomsbury’s Board as an Executive Director. Jenny will continue leading our Academic & Professional Division.

Bloomsbury is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Blatchford to its Board as a Non-Executive Director with effect from 19 May 2026. Chris is Chief Technology Officer at Kingfisher plc, and was formerly as Chief Technology Officer for Research at Elsevier.

John Bason, Bloomsbury’s Chairman, said, “In Chris Blatchford, we have appointed a Director with an exceptional track record in artificial intelligence, computer information systems, and the application of technology to academic publishing. We look forward to benefitting from his experience, combined with his innovative, commercial approach.”

Baroness Lola Young will retire from the Board at the conclusion of the 2026 Annual General Meeting. John Bason said, “Baroness Young’s presence on our Board for the past five years has been the most enormous good fortune for Bloomsbury. She has helped guide us through one of the most challenging periods in cultural relations, and wearing her literary hat as former Chair of the Judges of the Booker Prize and as an author, she has supported us in the success of our literary mission. We will miss her and are very grateful to her.”

Current Trading and Outlook

Bloomsbury has a strong wider publishing list in 2026/27, including two new Sarah J. Maas novels. These led to a trading update upgrading our profit expectations for 2026/27. Pre-orders of major titles are exceptional. The Board looks to the current year with strong confidence in delivering results in line with these recently upgraded expectations

Bloomsbury’s portfolio of portfolios strategy, our authors, customers and the scale and resilience of our business continue to underpin the confidence we have in the future.

Note

The Board considers consensus market expectation (before this publication) for the year ending 28 February 2027 to be revenue of £353.0m and profit before taxation and highlighted items of £50.0m.

For further information, please contact:

Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Tamsin Garrity, Group Investor Relations Director	tamsin.garrity@bloomsbury.com
Hudson Sandler
Dan de Belder / Hattie Dreyfus / Emily Brooker	bloomsbury@hudsonsandler.com

Disclaimer

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.