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30 Mar 2022
Bloomsbury Publishing : A story of success - Buy

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Bloomsbury Publishing : A story of success - Buy
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (BMY:LON) | 500 5 0.2% | Mkt Cap: 408.5m
- Published:
30 Mar 2022 -
Author:
Alastair Reid | Ross Broadfoot -
Pages:
6 -
Upgrade story continues: In its trading update today, Bloomsbury notes that revenue is expected to be comfortably ahead, and profit materially ahead, of even the recently upgraded consensus expectations post the previous trading update in late January. This again demonstrates the strength and resilience of the business, and successful execution of the company’s digital and acquisition strategies. More specifically, management note their exceptional sales in February, in part given demand for the new Sarah J Maas title in Consumer, and helped by strong backlist sales. The performance was supported by the company’s ability to successfully mitigate ongoing supply chain challenges, given earlier printing and flexibility on printing location.
Entering a new era for growth: On the fast growing Academic & Professional division, management note they have beaten their 2016 target of £15m revenue / £5m profit for the Bloomsbury Digital Resources (BDR) initiative that sought to build a high-quality, high-margin revenue stream from developing digital content. Looking forward, with new targets having been put in place recently for BDR, management highlight the new era of growth ahead on the back of both organic expansion and benefits from the recent acquisition of ABC-CLIO, with its digital footprint in the US high school library market. With a forecast net cash position of >£45m at YE23E, we believe more bolt-on M&A is likely over the medium-term.
A bestseller: We increase PBT by 19/12% in FY22E/23E, with our target price increasing to 430p. The shares trade at c.8x cal. FY23E EBITDA / 14x PE – we continue to believe this fundamentally undervalues the growth prospects for Bloomsbury, particularly given the resilience of the growth drivers and broader scarcity value of its assets in a consolidating industry.