Bloomsbury: Publisher of Harry Potter and Sarah J. Maas series eyes bumper revenue
Bloomsbury is on track to grow its revenue to almost £320m as the publisher of JK Rowling’s Harry Potter has continued to feel the impact of the blockbuster series.
The London-listed publishing giant said it is on track to deliver revenue of £319m and a pre-tax profit of £37.6m in the 12 months ending February 28, 2025 – inline with market expectations, which were only upgraded in February.
Several Bloomsbury titles have recorded bumper sales this year. Sarah J. Maas’ bestselling Crescent City series, the Harry Potter collection, the The Three Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Stuart Turton’s The Last Murder at the End of the World and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s How to Eat 30 Plants A Week have all chalked up strong sales.
The publisher said it had also been boosted by growth within its digital department after it acquired Rowman and Littlefield’s academic publishing business in May, allowing it to expand its virtual learning offering.
The takeover doubled Bloomsbury’s academic titles to 97,000, making it one of the biggest publishers in the US sector.
In a statement published this morning the publisher said: “This strategically important acquisition and our organic growth will accelerate Bloomsbury Digital Resources (BDR) from 2023/2024’s revenue of £27m to our increased BDR revenue target for 2027/28 of £41m, as Bloomsbury applies its proven ability to create premium digital content for the first time to Rowman & Littlefield’s market leading titles, expanding BDR products.
“The board is confident in the medium and long-term strategy for consumer and investing in academic and professional publishing, with the benefits of digital content.
“We continue to execute our strategy of diversification across formats, territories and markets, reflecting our portfolio of portfolios strategy.
“Our authors, customers, consistent performance and the scale and resilience of our business continue to underpin the confidence we have in the future.”
In May Bloomsbury hiked its dividend to 10.99 pence per share, taking its full year dividend to 14.69 pence per share, an increase of 25 per cent year on year.
In its full year 2024 trading update, the firm reported revenue rose 30 per cent year on year in 2024 to £342.7m, while pre-tax profit soared 57 per cent to £49m.