Sarah J. Maas sales boost Bloomsbury profits as publisher raises expectations
- Bloomsbury reported that first-half sales rose by around a third to £179.8 million
- Sarah J. Maas is the author of the Throne of Glass and Crescent City novel series
Bloomsbury Publishing has upgraded its full-year outlook after sales of Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy novels doubled in the first half.
The FTSE 250 company’s board had previously expected the group to achieve £319.3 million in revenues and £37.5 million in pre-tax profits and highlighted points in the year to February 2025.
For the six months ended August, the London-listed company reported sales rose by around a third to £179.8 million, its best ever first-half result.
Improved outlook: Bloomsbury Publishing has upgraded its full-year forecasts after sales of Sarah J. Maas’ fantasy novels doubled
Book purchases by Maas, who wrote the Throne of Glass series, increased 102 percent after the publication of her new Crescent City novel, House of Flame and Shadow.
JK Rowling’s Harry Potter books also continued to sell well, and Bloomsbury predicts that an upcoming streaming series based on the anthology will further boost sales.
A television adaptation of The Three-Body Problem, a science fiction novel series written by Ciu Liuxin, boosted the company’s business after it was released on Netflix in March.
Other best-selling Bloomsbury books in recent times include Greekish by Georgina Hayden, Tom Lake by Ann Patchett and How to Eat 30 Plants a Week by celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
An excellent result from the consumer division offset more subdued trading in the academic and professional sectors, which the group attributed to ‘budget pressures’ in the UK and US.
Many educational institutions in the former market have been hit financially by the introduction of new rules banning most foreign students from bringing their family members to Britain.
In the latter countries, declining male enrollment, partly due to rising wages and living costs, has put pressure on numbers in small and medium-sized businesses.
However, the takeover of academic publisher Rowman & Littlefield saw sales of Bloomsbury’s non-consumer arm grow by 3 percent to £48.5 million.
The FTSE 250 business posted its fifth consecutive double-digit revenue growth in the first half of the year, while pre-tax profits rose 58 percent to £22.1 million.
Iain Daly, executive director at broker H2Radnor, said: ‘The portfolio effect across the group has helped maintain momentum within the consumer market and more than offset a challenging budget environment within the academic market.’
Next up Bloomsbury Publishing Shares rose 9.1 per cent to £7.44 at midday, making them among the top performers of the FTSE All-Share Index on Wednesday.
Since the end of trading, Bloomsbury has released more bestsellers such as Henry V by Dan Jones, Want by actress Gillian Anderson and Seriously British: A Frenchman’s love letter to Britain by Fred Sirieix.
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