"We are utterly agnostic about media," says Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) executive director Richard Charkin. "Every single book we make we release in digital file as well as print, and the market will dictate the speed of uptake and the rest." It's a confident appraisal of the publisher's strategy, which nonetheless delivered a fairly flat performance last year.
Management blamed the absence of a runaway bestseller for the 10 per cent dip in revenue in the adult division, although they expect the December acquisition of Osprey, a profitable military and natural history publisher, to boost sales this year. This fall was offset by growth in the children and academic divisions. The latter posted 31 per cent growth in operating profit to £5.1m and a 35 per cent increase in digital sales to £4.2m.
Not that the appetite for print has vanished. Pre-orders of the forthcoming illustrated Harry Potter books have "confounded" management expectations and should boost sales of the series. Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell has also been flagged as a breakout seller following a recent BBC adaptation of the 2004 novel.
Analysts at Numis Securities are forecasting adjusted pre-tax profit of £12.9m and EPS of 13.8p for 2015-16, (from £12.1m and 14.7p last year).
| BLOOMSBURY (BMY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 178p | MARKET VALUE: | £134m | |
| TOUCH: | 175-180p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 190p | LOW: 141p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.4% | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 166p* | NET CASH: | £7.5m | |
| Year to 28 Feb | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 93 | 5.5 | 5.7 | 4.72 |
| 2012 | 97 | 8.5 | 9.8 | 5.20 |
| 2013 | 99 | 9.8 | 10.8 | 5.50 |
| 2014 | 109 | 9.5 | 10.6 | 5.82 |
| 2015 | 111 | 9.6 | 11.9 | 6.10 |
| % change | +1 | +1 | +13 | +5 |
Ex-div: 27 Aug Payment: 23 Sep *Includes intangible assets of £64.1m, or 85.4p a share | ||||
