Yahoo Finance Harry Potter publisher cashes in on ‘romantasy’ boom
Publisher Bloomsbury has upgraded its revenue and profit forecasts thanks to booming demand for “romantasy” novels.
The London-listed company said it now expects its full-year results to be “significantly” above upgraded market expectations.
Shares in Bloomsbury rose as much as 11.5pc to a record high.
The business, which is best known for publishing the Harry Potter books, has enjoyed strong trading in recent years as Covid lockdowns fuelled interest in reading.
In particular, it has cashed in on surging demand for romantic fantasy titles by authors such as Sarah J Maas.
Bloomsbury pointed to strong sales for Ms Maas’ latest novel House of Flame and Shadow, which was released at the end of January and reached number one in markets including the UK, US and Australia.
This helped drive sales of her 15 previous books, while Bloomsbury has a further six titles under contract with the author.
Nigel Newton, chief executive of Bloomsbury, described Ms Maas as a “publishing phenomenon”, adding: “We are very fortunate to have signed her up with her first book 13 years ago.”
Bloomsbury also publishes best-selling fantasy authors Samantha Shannon and Cixin Liu, whose Three Body Problem trilogy has been adapted into a TV series by Netflix.
The company said it was investing further in fantasy fiction, which has enjoyed a boost from popular films and TV series, as well as the “BookTok” trend on TikTok.
The fantasy and science fiction genre has grown by 54pc in the last five years in the UK, according to figures from Nielsen BookScan.
Bloomsbury also hailed strong sales of titles including Ghosts, the companion book to the hit BBC sitcom series, and JK Rowling spin-off The Harry Potter Wizarding Almanac.
Cookbooks have also continued to drive revenues for the publisher, with popular titles including Poppy Cooks: The Actually Delicious Air Fryer Cookbook by Poppy O’Toole and Pub Kitchen by Tom Kerridge.
Bloomsbury said market expectations for full-year revenue currently stand at £291.4m, with pre-tax profit of £37.2m. That compares to profits of £25.4m on revenues of £264.1m last year.
