Bloomsbury: are wizard returns on offer for investors? (Updated)
The release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in June 1997 did wonders for its publisher Bloomsbury Publishing, whose shares soared in the years that followed. Unfortunately, they have struggled to make any progress since, despite a growing portfolio of titles. Following falls in the wake of the pandemic the shares looked interesting value and have risen strongly off March lows. The latest trading update was highly encouraging, suggesting there could be plenty more to go for.
Bloomsbury Publishing (LON:BMY) is a global publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. The Group was founded in 1986 by current Chief Executive Nigel Newton and floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange in 1994. It currently publishes 2500 books a year from its offices in the UK, US, India and Australia with 750 staff. Bloomsbury has two separate publishing divisions - Consumer and the Non-Consumer —which are supported by Sales and Marketing, Book Production, Finance and Technology teams. The Consumer division includes books aimed at both adult and child audiences. A large part of its growth is…