Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY)

Sector:

Media

Index:

FTSE Small Cap

528.00p
   
  • Change Today:
      8.00p
  • 52 Week High: 571.00
  • 52 Week Low: 381.00
  • Currency: UK Pounds
  • Shares Issued: 81.61m
  • Volume: 88,596
  • Market Cap: £430.89m
  • RiskGrade: 201

Bloomsbury Publishing lifts guidance again as sales jump

By Michele Maatouk

Date: Wednesday 02 Jun 2021

LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury Publishing lifted its guidance for 2022 again on Wednesday as it reported a surge in annual profit and revenue as people increasingly turned to reading during the pandemic.
In the year to 28 February 2021, pre-tax profit rose 31% to £17.3m on revenue of £185.1m, up 14% on the previous year. Bloomsbury said this compared to industry revenue growth of 2%.

The company lifted its final dividend by 10% to 7.58p a share and declared a special dividend of 9.78p a share.

Bloomsbury said its consumer division had delivered a "stellar" performance, with 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," it said.

In the non-consumer division, meanwhile, Bloomsbury Digital Resources saw revenues grow 49% to £12.4m.

Bloomsbury said that given "the ongoing momentum and strength" of its business, it expects revenue to be ahead and profit to be comfortably ahead of market expectations for the year ended 28 February 2022. Consensus expectations are for revenue of £177.5m and pre-tax profit of £17.4m.

Chief executive Nigel Newton said: "The popularity of reading has been a ray of sunshine in an otherwise very dark 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."

At 1045 BST, the shares were up 6.8% at 330p.

Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell, said: "Bloomsbury has been prioritising its academic and professional publishing arm as part of its growth strategy and a focus on digital resources served it well during the pandemic.

"Even with returning lots of cash to shareholders, Bloomsbury has plenty of money in the bank and this may raise questions over the prospect of acquisitions to boost its footprint and take advantage of a buoyant market."

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:


Note 1: Prices and trades are provided by Digital Look Corporate Solutions and are delayed by at least 15 minutes.

Note 2: RiskGrade figures are provided by RiskMetrics.

 

BMY Market Data

Currency UK Pounds
Share Price 528.00p
Change Today 8.00p
% Change 1.54 %
52 Week High 571.00
52 Week Low 381.00
Volume 88,596
Shares Issued 81.61m
Market Cap £430.89m
RiskGrade 201

BMY Star Ratings

Compare performance with the sector and the market.
more star ratings
Key: vs Market vs Sector
Value
73.28% below the market average73.28% below the market average73.28% below the market average73.28% below the market average73.28% below the market average
63.64% below the sector average63.64% below the sector average63.64% below the sector average63.64% below the sector average63.64% below the sector average
Price Trend
86.86% above the market average86.86% above the market average86.86% above the market average86.86% above the market average86.86% above the market average
87.23% above the sector average87.23% above the sector average87.23% above the sector average87.23% above the sector average87.23% above the sector average
Income
33.92% below the market average33.92% below the market average33.92% below the market average33.92% below the market average33.92% below the market average
26.32% below the sector average26.32% below the sector average26.32% below the sector average26.32% below the sector average26.32% below the sector average
Growth
36.64% above the market average36.64% above the market average36.64% above the market average36.64% above the market average36.64% above the market average
4.55% above the sector average4.55% above the sector average4.55% above the sector average4.55% above the sector average4.55% above the sector average

What The Brokers Say

Strong Buy 1
Buy 1
Neutral 0
Sell 0
Strong Sell 0
Total 2
strong_buy
Broker recommendations should not be taken as investment advice, and are provided by the authorised brokers listed on this page.

BMY Dividends

  Latest Previous
  Interim Final
Ex-Div 02-Nov-23 27-Jul-23
Paid 01-Dec-23 25-Aug-23
Amount 3.70p 10.34p

Trades for 28-Mar-2024

Time Volume / Share Price
16:38 1,649 @ 528.00p
16:38 956 @ 528.00p
16:37 1,207 @ 528.00p
16:37 2,163 @ 528.00p
16:37 2,163 @ 528.00p

BMY Key Personnel

CEO Nigel Newton

Top of Page