Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Bloomsbury publishers boosted by Harry Potter and Scarlett Johansson

Sales of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone helped grow half-year revenue for the publisher

Ravender Sembhy
Tuesday 24 October 2017 10:17 BST
Comments
Bloomsbury's print revenues were up 16 per cent to £60.1m
Bloomsbury's print revenues were up 16 per cent to £60.1m (AFP/Getty)

Harry Potter and Scarlett Johansson helped grow revenues at publisher Bloomsbury in the first half of the year as the group's digital division continues to perform well.

The group said total revenues rose 15 per cent to £72.1m in the six months to August 31, while pre-tax profit jumped from £100,000 to £1.7m.

Print revenues were up 16 per cent to £60.1m as a Harry Potter Box Set and the new House Editions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone proved popular.

Sales in digital resources, which features the recently launched Drama Online where Johansson is one of the featured actors, rose 15 per cent to £8.9m.

Boss Nigel Newton hailed a strong set of results and reeled off a list of more potential money spinners.

He said: "It has been a very strong six months for Bloomsbury. Revenues are up 15 per cent, with good growth in each of our territories. The Children's Trade division delivered another outstanding performance, increasing revenues by 33 per cent. The Group is trading in line with the Board's expectations for the full year.”

"We have a strong second half list including the Illustrated Edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, the Illustrated Edition of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and two major books to accompany the British Library's Harry Potter exhibition."

PA

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in