The London-based British book publisher Bloomsbury has reported staggering first-half earnings of £136.7m. The publisher credits this success in part to a boom in the popularity of fantasy fiction, largely due to the American author Sarah J Mass, who is best known for her fantasy series Throne of Glass, British novelist Samantha Shannon, and the continuing popularity of Harry Potter.
CEO Nigel Newton told The Bookseller:
“Fantasy was particularly strong in the period, led by Sarah J Maas but also Samantha Shannon, with growth there of 79% and 169% [respectively] in the period and Harry Potter remaining strong, 26 years after publication.”
With this, Bloomsbury has achieved 11% year-on-year revenue growth for six months ending on 31st August 2023. Sales for Shannon’s dystopian and fantasy fiction novels rose to 169% over the same period.
The Consumer Division witnessed 17% revenue growth to £89.4m while the Academic and Professional division saw a small dip in revenue, reporting £36.4m in revenue compared to £36.5m in 2022. Meanwhile, Adult Trade revenue has increased by 8% to £27.6m. Children’s Trade revenue has grown 22% to £61.7m in revenue.
CEO Newton is very optimistic about the second half of 2023, citing the upcoming publication of Maas’ House of Flame and Shadow, which will be published on 30 January 2024. He also highlighted The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac, published earlier this month.
He said:
“These results demonstrate the strength of our strategy of publishing for both the consumer and academic markets.”
Also, Bloomsbury said it would boost payouts for shareholders, giving an interim dividend of 3.7p per share. It’s more than double the 1.41p per share distributed for the first half of 2022.
Navkiran Dhaliwal is a seasoned content writer with 10+ years of experience. When she's not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm or spending time with her dog, Rain.