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(Sharecast News) - Bloomsbury Publishing raised its full-year profit expectations on Thursday, after reporting resilient first-half results and signing its first artificial intelligence licensing agreement, as strong academic growth helped offset a tougher comparison in consumer publishing.
For the six months ended 31 August, the group reported revenue of £159.5m, down from £179.8m a year earlier but up sharply from £136.7m two years ago.
Profit before tax and highlighted items came in at £24m, compared with £26.6m last year, giving a healthy margin of 15%.
The board declared an interim dividend of 4.08p per share, a 5% year-on-year increase.
"Bloomsbury is pleased to report revenue of £160m and profit of £24m with a strong margin of 15%," said chief executive Nigel Newton.
"In the academic and professional division, we achieved revenue growth of 20% despite the challenging market conditions in the UK and US.
"Growth was driven by the intellectual property value and quality of our academic list which enabled us to sign our first non-exclusive AI licensing agreement, announced in July.
"With this, we continue to find new ways of monetising our content."
The London-listed firm said its academic and professional arm delivered a standout performance, with revenue rising 20% to £46.1m and profit before tax and highlighted items nearly doubling to £11m, giving a 24% margin.
It said the division benefited from robust demand for digital academic resources, ongoing integration of the Rowman & Littlefield acquisition, and the expansion of Bloomsbury Digital Resources.
The company said it planned to open a Singapore office later in the year to strengthen its presence in Asia and tap into growth in the regional student population.
Its consumer division performed in line with expectations following a strong comparative period last year boosted by author Sarah J Maas.
Revenue fell to £113.4m from £141.3m, with profit before tax and highlighted items declining to £13.4m from £20.6m.
Despite the slowdown, Bloomsbury said its consumer publishing list remained strong, led by Gillian Anderson's Want, which topped the Sunday Times bestseller list for 15 weeks.
Titles from Katherine Rundell and Samantha Shannon also performed well, with Rundell recently signing a multi-film deal with Walt Disney Studios.
Newton highlighted the company's continuing momentum into the second half.
"We have had a positive start to the second half with further bestsellers including new titles from Samantha Shannon and Katherine Rundell."
He added that the board "expects to deliver full-year profit ahead of expectations".
Bloomsbury noted that it was named Publisher of the Year 2025 at the British Book Awards and said its '2030 Vision' strategy remains on track.
It also reported progress on integrating its new distribution partnership with Hachette and the creation of a dedicated US key account sales team.
Net cash stood at £2.4m at the period end following a further $10m early repayment of the Rowman & Littlefield acquisition loan.
Bloomsbury said it now had a more efficient balance sheet, and remained confident in its long-term growth trajectory.
At 1000 BST, shares in Bloomsbury Publishing were up 4.51% at 510p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
