Sales of children’s fantasy books surged during the coronavirus pandemic, helping to push publisher Bloomsbury to an all-time record. It meant that Bloomsbury can now say that it expects revenue and profit to be “comfortably ahead” of market expectations in the current financial year. It did however tell investors that in the year to February 2021 pre-tax profit rose 31% to £17.3 million on revenue of £185.1 million, up 14%. “While bookshops have been closed for long spells during lockdown, consumers have been used to buying online or purchasing titles for e-readers. “Releasing content in a digital format allows Bloomsbury to generate revenue from a ‘backlist’ of previously published books at very limited additional cost, benefiting margin performance.”

Source: Irish Independent June 02, 2021 09:33 UTC