Bloomsbury reported results for the six months ending August 31, with continuing pre-tax profits falling 40 percent to £0.9 million, even as sales rose 2 percent to £43.5 million. With recent acquisitions the academic and professional division now comprises 28 percent of company sales, though “academic sales peak at the beginning of the academic year, in September and October.”
Sales at the adult division were flat (and down 5 percent before acquisitions), while children’s and educational sales fell 23 percent and operating profit in that segment disappeared, blamed on the comparison to last year’s Harry Potter sales tying in to the final movie.
eBook sales for the period grew 89 percent to £4.5 million, comprising 10 percent of all sales and 15% of adult sales. The company says: “With our Academic acquisitions over the last 16 months, our global restructuring in 2011, our ongoing innovation in digital and our continuing strong balance sheet, the Group continues to progress with its strategy and is well positioned for the future.” Bloomsbury’s stock is down over 5 percent today on the earnings decline.
Release
The next big earnings report comes from Amazon after the close of the market today. The company has already forecasted a loss for the third quarter, ranging from $50 million to $350 million (compared down to $79 million in income a year ago), with sales predicted to grow “between 19 percent and 31 percent.” Analysts are expecting sales of $13.9 billion and a smaller loss than forecast by the company, of $22 million to $35 million.