With H124 revenue of £136.7m (+11% y-o-y), Bloomsbury is on track to meet FY24 expectations, with a particularly good H1 from Consumer and within that, from the children's list, where sales of Sarah J Maas titles were up by 79% y-o-y. Momentum appears likely to be sustained in H2 as her next book is set for publication in January. Non-consumer growth was more muted, against tough comparatives. It is here that Bloomsbury stands to benefit most from the shift to digital, notably in the US school and college markets, albeit these have had some short-term funding hiccups. Management has focused on the most important fundamental – building an extensive resource of high-quality content in readily accessible formats. This is driving the subscription revenues and high retention rates that underpin its growth plans. Cash resources of £39.1m at end August should enable further content acquisition to drive the top line.
