Bloomsbury Publishing demonstrates that everyone loves a good book

Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publishing house, established in 1986, with authors who have won the Nobel, Pulitzer and Booker Prizes, and is the originating publisher and custodian of the Harry Potter series.

Bloomsbury has offices in London, New York, New Delhi, Oxford and Sydney.

Brokers were gushing in their praise of Bloomsbury Publishing PLC after another strong set of interim numbers.

Investec, which has a price target of 370p, said it was still “undervalued” following the company’s record profit and revenue growth.

“The interim results once again demonstrate the impressive virtuous flywheel in place at Bloomsbury.

“Investment in high-quality content supports robust and growing demand from customers – this then leads to strong cash generation which facilitates further investment in content.”

() printed its best ever sales and profits in the first half of 2021 as it successfully mitigated print supply chain challenges and booksellers significantly increased stock levels.

The independent publisher announced a 5% increase to the interim dividend to 1.34p per share and said with net cash of GBP43.7mln and continued cash generation it is eyeing further acquisitions and investment in organic growth.

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LSE:BMY) welcomed news Abdulrazak Gurnah was awarded the 2021 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Gurnah’s 10 novels, published by Bloomsbury, include the Booker prize shortlisted Paradise and most recently, the Orwell prize shortlisted Afterlives.

In commercial terms, there have been undoubted winners and losers from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LON:BMY) looks like a winner.

A surge in interest in reading – there are just so many box-sets one can watch on Netflix before one goes Nutsflix – has been a boon for the company while its strategic move to become primarily a digital business-to-business (B2B) publisher focused on the academic and professional information market looks far-sighted.

Investors should own Bloomsbury Publishing PLC (LON:BMY) is the straightforward verdict of Peel Hunt after results beat expectations that had already been raised twice.

Bloomsbury is diverse (geography, format, revenue type, subject matter, sales channel), with a very strong underpinning both financially (GBP54m cash) and IP (unvalued publishing rights), says the broker.

Its performance through the pandemic was very strong, reflecting the appeal of its products and the benefits of the diversity it has achieved.

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC‘s (LON:BMY) chief executive Nigel Newton talks to Proactive London’s Katie Pilbeam to discuss their latest performance, he says, ‘what a last sixteen months as a free showcase for the power of books in the future of people’s lives’.

When asked if he believes this reading revival will last, Newton says, ‘people have rediscovered reading and it has become a habit once again, one that will stick!’.

Profits before tax in the year ending in February jumped nearly a third to GBP17.3m, as sales grew 14 per cent to GBP185.1m.