Bloomsbury to surpass targets as fantasy boom keeps pace

Publisher Bloomsbury has said its sales for the year will beat expectations as it continues to be lifted by a boom in demand for its fantasy titles.

Shares in the London-based business soared on Thursday as a result.

Sales of Sarah J Maas’s fantasy books and JK Rowling’s Harry Potter franchise have helped to boost sales over the first half of its financial year.

Bloomsbury added that strong trading has continued into September and October.

The group revealed that total revenues grew by 32% to £179.8 million for the six months to August 31, compared with the same period last year.

It told shareholders this was driven by its consumer division, where revenues leapt by 47%.

Bloomsbury posted a pre-tax profit of £22.1 million for the half-year, up from £14 million a year earlier.

Nigel Newton, chief executive of Bloomsbury, said: “Bloomsbury’s strong results reflect implementation of the recently announced Bloomsbury 2030 vision, focused on our growth, portfolio and people.

“Following our strong performance in the first half of this year and good trading in September and October, we now expect trading for full year 2024/25 to be ahead of the current consensus expectation.”

Fiona Orford-Williams, director at Edison Group, said: “A strong set of figures from Bloomsbury and an upgrade to full year expectations is on the back of the continuing popular enthusiasm for fantasy novels, with sales of Sarah J Maas titles doubling on what was already an impressive number.

“While there are no more titles from her scheduled for the second half, there are more in the longer-term pipeline.

“The broader consumer list has been selling well across several categories and there is a promising slate for the important Christmas market.”

Bloomsbury shares were 8.2% at 738p.