Bloomsbury Publishing delivered another strong performance last year, thanks to a growing demand for digital or e-book sales and a very strong line-up of best-selling titles. Turnover was boosted by a number of acquisitions, and the publisher has also been busy reducing its reliance on the UK retail sector by developing its digital, subscription-based services in the academic and professional publishing market, where adjusted operating profits more than doubled to £4.2m.
Once again, e-book sales showed impressive growth – up 159 per cent at £5.7m – and Bloomsbury continues to benefit from a decision to digitise its backlist of titles. E-books now account for 6 per cent of group sales, up from 3 per cent a year ago, and Bloomsbury believes that this will continue to rise to somewhere near the 23 per cent of continuing sales achieved in the US.
Despite this shift, print sales still comprise a lion's share of group turnover, and sales here rose 6 per cent to £78.9m, helped by a high percentage of best-sellers, including three novels on the shortlist of six nominated for the Orange Prize for Fiction. Acquisitions included Continuum for £19.2m as part of a drive to build the proportion of academic and professional publishing revenue.
Peel Hunt is forecasting adjusted pre-tax profits for the current year of £12.1m and EPS of 11.7p.
| BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING (BMY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 112p | MARKET VALUE: | £82.7m | |
| TOUCH: | 108-112p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 134p | LOW: 90p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.6% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 148p** | NET CASH: | £12.6m | |
| Year to 29 Feb | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 100 | 11.6 | 10.7 | 4.22 |
| 2009 | 87.2 | 7.13 | 6.77 | 4.43 |
| 28-Feb | ||||
| 2011* | 93.1 | 5.51 | 5.68 | 5.00 |
| 2012 | 97.4 | 8.46 | 9.80 | 5.20 |
| % change | +5 | +54 | +73 | +4 |
Ex-div: 29 Aug Payment: 25 Sep *Annualised figures adjusted from 14-month reporting period **Includes intangible assets of £52.7m, or 71p a share | ||||
