Bloomsbury has announced a 38 per cent increase in profits and is positive that new releases can help it sustain growth in the second half. Following last June’s publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the cash reserves leapt to £55m, up from £13m in the first half of 2007.
Revenue in the children’s division dropped by 53%, attributed to a strong 2007 comparative that included the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows but there was a solid performance from Bloomsbury’s books for adults. Sales of best sellers such as The Kite Runner saw adult book sales rise 34pc to £21m. A biography of Warren Buffett and Heston Blumenthal’s latest cookbook are expected to provide a further lift this autumn. The company is also confident of seeing an improvement in the second half of the year with a number of strong releases, including JK Rowling’s The Tales of Beedle The Bard.
Bloomsbury is also hoping for success from Mary Ann Shaffer’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - a wartime novel which draws its name from a spur-of-the-moment alibi by islanders discovered breaking the curfew imposed by German occupiers.