TIDMBMY
RNS Number : 2510T
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
24 March 2021
BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC
("Bloomsbury" or "the Company")
Further Trading Update
Trading significantly ahead of upgraded expectations
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (LSE: BMY), the leading independent
publisher, today gives a further year-end trading update for the 12
months ending 28 February 2021.
Bloomsbury announces that revenue is expected to be ahead and
profit significantly ahead of upgraded market expectations* for the
year ending 28 February 2021. This surpasses the guidance provided
in our statement on 29 January 2021.
Commenting on the performance, Nigel Newton, Chief Executive,
said:
"The popularity of reading during lockdown is a ray of sunshine
in an otherwise very dark last year. February, the final month of
our financial year, saw an exceptional sales performance for
Bloomsbury as the surge in reading continued. We do not yet know
how consumer behaviour will change as academic institutions, shops
and leisure activities re-open and whether this popularity will
continue as restrictions are lifted.
We are confident, though, in the underlying strength of our
business, the quality of our titles and content and our long-term
strategy. Our medium and long-term expectations remain
unchanged.
I would like to express my thanks to the staff, authors,
illustrators, printers, distributors and suppliers for their
profound resilience over the last year."
Consumer
This second upgrade follows exceptional February trading in the
Consumer division, for both Adult and Children's publishing. Sarah
J. Maas' new novel, A Court of Silver Flames, which was published
on 16 February 2021, is a global bestseller, achieving number one
in both the New York Times and The Times bestseller lists. Other
frontlist bestsellers included Outlawed (published 5 January 2021),
We Are Bellingcat (published 4 February 2021) and Piranesi, winner
of Audiobook of the Year 2021. Strong backlist sales continued, in
particular of Harry Potter, Sarah J. Maas, Song of Achilles and
Dishoom.
Non-Consumer
The success of our strategy for Bloomsbury Digital Resources
("BDR") to develop digital academic content has enabled us to
benefit from the increased demand for remote access to learning
materials by academic institutions. Our fast-growing content
portfolio and increased discovery has accelerated individual title
purchasing through the Bloomsbury Collections platform, and the
increased demand for video streaming has driven growth for Drama
Online. BDR is well positioned to further benefit from the growing
trend for digital learning.
Balance Sheet
Bloomsbury's financial position is strong with net cash of GBP54
million at 28 February 2021. The Company continues to assess
opportunities to invest this cash balance to deliver attractive
shareholder returns, which include organic investment initiatives
and acquisitions of companies and lists to accelerate our strategic
growth ambitions.
Bloomsbury has repaid the GBP63,000 of UK government furlough
funding received and has not received or applied for any further UK
government support. We have also repaid the temporary salary
reductions for staff, taken for three months in the first half of
the financial year.
We will provide further details on all matters raised with our
preliminary results in June 2021.
Bloomsbury also announces that Leslie-Ann Reed will become the
Senior Independent Director at the conclusion of the AGM taking
place in July 2021, when John Warren will step down from the Board,
as previously announced. **
* The Board considers current consensus market expectation for
the year ending 28 February 2021 to be revenue of GBP171.0 million
and profit before taxation and highlighted items of GBP14.8
million.
** This statement is made in accordance with paragraph 9.6.11(2)
of the Listing Rules.
For further information, please contact:
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Nigel Newton, Chief Executive nigel.newton@bloomsbury.com
Penny Scott-Bayfield, Group penny.scott-bayfield@bloomsbury.com
Finance Director
Hudson Sandler +44 (0) 20 7796 4133
Dan de Belder / Rebekah Chapman bloomsbury@hudsonsandler.com
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Group to constitute inside information as stipulated under the
Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR"). Upon the
publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information
Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in
the public domain.
The information in this announcement has not been audited or
otherwise independently verified and no representation or warranty,
express or implied, is made as to, and no reliance should be placed
on, the fairness, accuracy, completeness or correctness of the
information or opinions contained herein. None of the Company or
any of its affiliates, advisors or representatives shall have any
liability whatsoever (in negligence or otherwise) for any loss
whatsoever arising from any use of this announcement, or its
contents, or otherwise arising in connection with this
announcement.
This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer
or invitation to sell, or any solicitation of any offer to purchase
any shares in the Company, nor shall it or any part of it or the
fact of its distribution form the basis of, or be relied on in
connection with, any contract or commitment or investment decisions
relating thereto, nor does it constitute a recommendation regarding
the shares of the Company.
Certain statements, statistics and projections in this
announcement are or may be forward looking. By their nature,
forward--looking statements involve a number of risks,
uncertainties or assumptions that may or may not occur and actual
results or events may differ materially from those expressed or
implied by the forward-looking statements. Accordingly, no
assurance can be given that any particular expectation will be met
and reliance should not be placed on any forward-looking statement.
Accordingly, forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement regarding past trends or activities should not be
taken as representation that such trends or activities will
continue in the future. You should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements, which are based on the knowledge and
information available only at the date of this announcement's
preparation.
The Company does not undertake any obligation to update or keep
current the information contained in this announcement, including
any forward--looking statements, or to correct any inaccuracies
which may become apparent and any opinions expressed in it are
subject to change without notice.
References in this announcement to other reports or materials,
such as a website address, have been provided to direct the reader
to other sources of information on Bloomsbury Publishing Plc which
may be of interest. Neither the content of Bloomsbury's website nor
any website accessible by hyperlinks from Bloomsbury's website nor
any additional materials contained or accessible thereon, are
incorporated in, or form part of, this announcement.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
TSTDKNBQFBKDKNB
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2021 03:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Grafico Azioni Bloomsbury Publishing (AQSE:BMY.GB)
Storico
Da Dic 2024 a Gen 2025
Grafico Azioni Bloomsbury Publishing (AQSE:BMY.GB)
Storico
Da Gen 2024 a Gen 2025
