Potter works magic on Bloombury's bottom line
The launch of the latest Harry Potter book helped London-based publishing house Bloomsbury boost sales and see pre-tax profit leap 38.3% to £15.38m, in 2003.
Overall sales were up 22.2% to €83.11m. Children's sales jumped 37.1% to £52.29m and adult sales increased 6.7% to £18.37m, with Donna Tartt's "The Little Friend" this years bestseller in this category.
"These strong results reflect the benefits of earlier investment. Our operations in the UK, US and Germany are working well together to build an increasingly international portfolio for the group, with more rights retained in-house," said Nigel Newton, Chairman.
"The group is currently performing to the Board's expectations, and 2004 is expected to show further progress, supported by continued strong cash generation," he added.
Worldwide sales of the Harry Potter titles have reached 200 million with the fifth title in a planned series of seven, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, selling 1.78 million copies in the UK on its first day on sale last June.
"The launch of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was our most challenging to date. Detailed international logistics and a major marketing campaign achieved record-breaking sales in the first weeks of publication," commented Newton.
"In 2004, we will be publishing 15 new editions of existing titles in the Harry Potter series. The film of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban will be released on 4 June and we will be releasing a celebratory edition of the book prior to that," he added.
