Bloomsbury says increased reading here to stay as Harry Potter publisher eyes £240m yearly sales
London publishing house Bloomsbury has said it is confident a new cohort of book lovers are here to stay, posting elevated growth for the year so far.
The Covid-19 pandemic inspired many consumers to pick up paperbacks, with lockdown giving rise to TikTok reading trends.
According to the Harry Potter publisher, increased reading is “here to stay,” with Nielsen data showing record consumer book sales in the first half of 2022.
Bloomsbury believes current consensus market expectation for the year ending 28 February 2023 to be revenue of £242.6m.
It also said profit before taxation and highlighted items was anticipated to sit around £26.9m.
In total, the company garnered some £49.9m from children and adult book sales in the four months to June, it revealed ahead of its AGM later on Wednesday afternoon.
With the addition of non-consumer titles, including academic books, revenue stood at £80.2m, marking a growth of 27 per cent versus the same period in 2021.
Bestsellers included celebrity chef and television presenter Paul Hollywood’s Bake, alongside the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling.
The publisher also highlighted the fantasy book author Sarah J.Maas, who has sold just over 1m print books to date in the UK, after book sales were buoyed by her titles’ TikTik stardom.