Bloomsbury Publishing (LSE:BMY), the leading independent publisher, said it has upgraded its profit expectations for 2026/27 after exceptional pre-orders and a strong frontlist, as it published audited results for the year ended 28 February versus the prior year.
For the year, group revenue fell to £325.9m (2024/25: £361m) while profit before taxation and highlighted items rose to £44.9m (2024/25: £42.1m), an increase of 7%.
The Consumer Division saw revenue of £218.2m (2024/25: £277.7m) and profit before tax and highlighted items of £20.5m (2024/25: £30.3m) while Academic & Professional grew to revenue of £107.7m (2024/25: £83.3m) and profit before tax and highlighted items of £25m (2024/25: £12.5m), with margins improving to 23% from 15%.
Highlighted items totalled £10.7m, the group finished with net cash of £29.2m after early repayments related to Rowman & Littlefield and the Board recommends a final dividend of 12.12p taking the full year dividend to 16.20p, up 5%.
"The Board looks to the current year with strong confidence in delivering results in line with these recently upgraded expectations," Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, said.
Bloomsbury will host a meeting for analysts and shareholders at 9am via webcast.
