Operational improvements allowed Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) to cut production, marketing and distribution costs at the full-year stage. Moreover, the contribution from Fairchild Books, acquired in March 2012, and June 2012's acquisition of Applied Visual Arts Publishing, more than offset falling sales from Bloomsbury's highly lucrative Harry Potter series.
Strip-out a £6m contribution from those two acquisitions - which form part of the Academic & Professional division - and group revenue fell 5 per cent, or £4.9m, in the period to £92.5m, principally due to lower sales of Harry Potter titles in the absence of a new film. Moreover, as 2011's 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2' was the last film in the series, pressure here looks set to persist. Still, Bloomsbury's remaining title sales recorded growth, with revenues from the fast-growing e-book segment having risen 61 per cent in the period to £9.1m. Management wants to generate half of group profits from digital sources within five years. Moreover, improved cost controls helped operating profit - excluding losses linked to former German subsidiary, Bloomsbury Verlag GmbH - to rise by 16 per cent in the year to £9.8m. While the adjusted operating margin improved to 12.6 per cent from last year's 12.4 per cent.
Broker Peel Hunt expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £13m for 2014, giving adjusted EPS of 13.5p (from £12.5m and 13.1p in 2013).
| BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING (BMY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 118p | MARKET VALUE: | £87m | |
| TOUCH: | 118-120p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 148p | LOW: 102p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.7% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 156p* | NET CASH: | £14.6m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | 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 |
| Year to 28 Feb | (£m) | (£m) | (p) | (p) |
| 2011† | 93.1 | 5.51 | 5.68 | 4.72 |
| 2012 | 97.4 | 8.46 | 9.80 | 5.20 |
| 2013 | 98.5 | 9.85 | 10.8 | 5.50 |
| % change | +1 | +16 | +10 | +6 |
Ex-div: 28 Aug Payment: 24 Sep *Includes intangible assets of £55m, or 75p a share †14-month period to 28 Feb 2011 | ||||
