‘Readers are turning to books as affordable,’ says Bloomsbury CEO

Bloomsbury Publishing has recorded its best ever annual performance, with its founder claiming hard-pressed consumers are turning to books amid the cost-of-living crisis.

Turnover at the publishing house rose by 15 per cent to a record £264.1million for the 12 months ending February, following continued strong demand for Harry Potter books and titles by fantasy novelist Sarah J. Maas.

Purchases of Maas’s works climbed by over half thanks to the release of New York Times best-selling House of Sky and Breath, the latest in her Crescent City series, as well as backlist sales of books like A Court of Silver Flames.

Bloomsbury’s other bestsellers during the year included Stolen Focus by Johann Hari, Bake by television star Paul Hollywood, and Martha Mumford’s We’re Going on an Egg Hunt and Five Little Easter Bunnies.

Meanwhile, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the UK’s third most popular children’s book as fans of the iconic anthology celebrated its 25th anniversary.

‘In challenging economic times, readers are turning to books as affordable as they cut back on more expensive forms of diversion,’ said Bloomsbury founder and chief executive Nigel Newton.

Book sales were already growing significantly prior to the current economic crisis as pandemic restrictions encouraged individuals to spend more time at home.

But even as people have begun to spend more time outside again, Newton has predicted that the Covid-induced boom in reading would not fade because lockdowns forced people to ‘re-evaluate how we spend our time and our hobbies’. 

Pre-tax profits also surpassed forecasts last year to reach a record £31.1million, thanks to robust growth in its higher-margin Bloomsbury Digital Resources (BDR) business.

Revenue from the division soared by 41 per cent, driven by massive sales of digital products and the takeover of California-based publishing group ABC-CLIO, which provides digital materials to educational institutions in the US.

Bloomsbury now makes almost half its revenues in the US, compared to 27 per cent in the UK, a market it has sought to reduce its reliance on in recent years.

Following the impressive performance, the company now aims to boost BDR’s organic sales by 40 per cent in the coming five years to around £37million.

Newton said the results ‘demonstrate the strength of our strategy to publish for both the consumer and the academic markets, unusual in our industry, and to grow digital revenues while expanding globally’.

The firm recently signed a four-book contract with Sarah J. Maas and expects the forthcoming Harry Potter television series produced by HBO Max will ‘stimulate further interest’ in the fantasy books.

Bloomsbury Publishing shares were 0.5 per cent higher at 412.5p on Wednesday afternoon, meaning their value has grown by about 93 per cent in the past three years.