This content is only available within our institutional offering.

19 Mar 2020
Bloomsbury Publishing : Well-positioned - Buy

Sign in
This content is only available to commercial clients. Sign in if you have access or contact support@research-tree.com to set up a commercial account
This content is only available to commercial clients. Sign in if you have access or contact support@research-tree.com to set up a commercial account
Bloomsbury Publishing : Well-positioned - Buy
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (BMY:LON) | 478 19.1 0.8% | Mkt Cap: 390.5m
- Published:
19 Mar 2020 -
Author:
Alastair Reid | Ross Broadfoot -
Pages:
6 -
FY trading in-line with expectations: In their trading update, management note that the performance for the full year is in-line with their expectations. Continuing the theme from H1, the Non-Consumer Academic & Professional division delivered a strong performance (with revenue and margin growth), underpinned by expanding demand for their Bloomsbury Digital Resources (now taken by more than 1100 institutions). The Consumer division had an H2 weighted frontlist this year, and saw a number of bestsellers including from JK Rowling, Tom Kerridge and Sarah J Maas.
Cash remains key: Encouragingly in these times, management highlight their net cash position of £31m at year-end (even with the recent acquisition of Oberon Books in December). We believe this highlights the value of management’s recent focus on working capital improvements.
Uncertainty, but signs for reassurance: The company is less than a month into a new financial year and so highlights that it is too early to comment specifically on the impact of coronavirus on a financial year ending at the end of February 2021. It notes the potential disruption to bookshops, online book retailers and academic institutions, but recognises the scope for book reading to be popular at home, and importantly highlights that the availability of eBooks and Audio Books provides a means for their content to continue to be acquired. We leave our forecasts unchanged at this stage – the stock trades at 10.5x calendar FY20E earnings.