Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury is coping with life after the finish of the wildly successful teen-aged wizard series, with demand for its electronic books (ebooks) growing especially fast.
Ebook sales grew significantly in the final quarter of 2011, and were up 38% year-on-year. The group noted that ebook readers, such as Amazon's Kindle, were reportedly big sellers over Christmas.
MoneyWeek
Subscribe to MoneyWeek today and get your first six magazine issues absolutely FREE
Sign up to Money Morning
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
Don't miss the latest investment and personal finances news, market analysis, plus money-saving tips with our free twice-daily newsletter
"We have a robust business, strongly adapted to the digital market place, that we have positioned to take full advantage of the continuing opportunities arising from growth of online sales and sales of ebooks," claimed Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury's Chief Executive Officer.
"Other Bloomsbury strengths of database creation, publishing management services and rights licensing are underpinned by an extremely strong author list as we set forth in the New Year, building on our many recent successful acquisitions," Newton added.
There is plenty of ammo still in the keg for further acquisitions, with net cash as at 31 December 2011 totalling £7m.
jh
-
Reeves warned against property tax shake-up – 3 ways it could backfire on first-time buyersRachel Reeves reportedly has her eye on high-end property taxes in the upcoming Budget, but there are concerns a shake-up could unintentionally hamper those trying to get on the housing ladder
-
Average Brits want to retire five years before they can – who has the widest retirement gap?Brits are expecting to work for longer than ever but there are big disparities in the number of extra working years predicted. A small tweak could help close the gap
