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In the light of the battle for Penguin and the proposed 'merger' with Random House, today's revelation in the Sunday Times that Mr Murdoch is gatecrashing the party with a 1bio cash offer for Penguin, Bloomsbury looks especially vulnerable. With a market cap of c.100mio a 'minnow' by comparison but certainly a nice 'bolt-on' for one of the larger publishing houses. Bloomsbury's strong balance sheet and successful diversification post Potter, makes it an ideal take-over target. Watch this space...
Bloomsbury Publishing saw its shares move lower yesterday after a mixed set of interim numbers. However, prospects for the second half of the year could be much better. The first half is traditionally weaker – with the key Christmas season being vital for book publishing. Releases lined up for the next few months include titles from celebrity chefs Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and Paul Hollywood, as well as a Hogwarts Library Boxed Set from J K Rowling and the latest novel from Will Self. Despite the fall in first-half profits the results were roughly in line with analysts' expectations. Sales and the dividend were higher than expected, although with profit being a touch light. However, there was evidence that the group's digital strategy is paying off. The company is focusing on electronic publishing, with its e-book sales rising by 89% in the period to £4.5m. Questor last recommended a buy at 117p in July, and the shares are now 11% ahead. They are trading on a current-year earnings multiple of 10.5 times, falling to 9.8 next year and yielding an attractive 4.3%, rising to 4.6%. Questor thinks this valuation looks full for now. Ahead of the key Christmas trading period, the rating is a hold.
Ebook sales were a bright spot, up 89% to £4.5m compared to £2.4m before and new e-reader devices are expected to boost fourth quarter ebook sales. Chief Executive Nigel Newton said: "Higher ebook sales and academic turnover continue to increase the weighting of our sales to the second half. In addition we have a strong second half list, including potential best sellers, and are targeting a significant number of rights and services contracts." "We remain well positioned for the future and results continue to show a positive trend over the longer term."
Weak sales at its children's and educational division weighed on first half profit at publisher Bloomsbury as strong demand for the Harry Potter series dwindles. The publisher said pre-tax profit fell to £0.9m in the six month ended August 31st 2012 from £1.5m before. Adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £2.1m compared to £3.3m. Turnover for the interim period increased to £43.5m from £42.4m. Revenue from children's and educational books, which make up around 22% of total revenue, declined 23% to £9.3m. Continuing operating profit reduced by £0.9m to nil reflecting the reduction in Harry Potter sales compared to last year, which was boosted by the final movie in 2011, the group explained. Bloomsbury, which has a second half list which includes Hugh's Three Good Things by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, How to Bake by Paul Hollywood, said it is well positioned for stronger book sales over the next six months. It underlined its confidence by increasing its interim dividend by 6% to 0.94p per share.
Reading between the lines-all pretty good I think the problem is that he spouted on about ebooks going stelllar in the late summer but has qualified it today in the results saying that the sales were geared into the second half of the year I think he needs a bIt of financial PR help i am certainly encouraged to top up
Tough times
Commenting on the results, Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, said: "The Group continues to make good progress. We have acquired two new businesses further boosting our presence in the academic market, particularly in the USA, and have launched our own sales and publishing operation in India, a market which has the potential to become one of the largest English language book markets in the world. Higher ebook sales and academic turnover continue to increase the weighting of our sales to the second half. In addition we have a strong second half list, including potential best sellers, and are targeting a significant number of rights and services contracts. We remain well positioned for the future and results continue to show a positive trend over the longer term."
Operating highlights · Further growth in ebook sales o ebook sales in the six months to 31 August 2012 increased by 89% to £4.5 million (2011: £2.4m) o New e-reader devices expected to have a positive impact on Q4 ebook sales · Strategic progress in Academic & Professional division o Academic division now represents 28% of Group continuing sales (2011: 20%) o Acquisition of Fairchild Books for $6.1 million (£3.8 million) o Acquisition of Applied Visual Arts Publishing for CHF 2.6 million (£1.7 million) o Launch of The Churchill Archive, www.churchillarchive.com, with strong demand · Major prize wins and shortlists include: o Winner Orange Prize for Fiction 2012 o Winner International IMPAC Dublin Award 2012 o 2 shortlists for Man Booker Prize 2012 o Shortlist for Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award 2012 · Strong list for the second half o Hugh's Three Good Things - Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall o How to Bake - Paul Hollywood o Hogwarts Library Boxed Set - J. K. Rowling o Umbrella - Will Self o The first ever Wisden India Cricketers Almanac 2012
Unaudited Interim Results for the six months ended 31 August 2012 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc today announces six month results for the period ended 31 August 2012. Financial highlights · Turnover £43.5 million (2011: £42.4 million) +2% · Profit before taxation and highlighted items* £2.1 million (2011: £3.3 million) -37% · Profit before taxation £0.9 million (2011: £1.5 million) · Interim dividend 0.94 pence per share (2011: 0.89 pence) +6% · Basic earnings per share before highlighted items* 2.20 pence (2011: 3.27 pence) · Basic earnings per share of 0.87 pence (2011: 1.45 pence)
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201210250700074750P
An Interim Results announcement is due on 25 October 2012 and IMHO there is likely to be a further surge in ebook sales. It will be very interesting to see what it does to profitability and Share Price.
Having bought in here I thought I would have a mosey down to their website Not particuarly user friendly (so last year dahling) and no mention /promotion of e-books which they are heralding as the future profit generator .Apparently you cant order direct but from other internet platforms. I had to eamil customer services to find out this piece of info Strange you would think they would sell directly to the public and keep all the profit .I had envisaged some Xmas promo along it send friends and family an ebook pressy for guranteed delivery complete with personal message Must admit not overly impressed
Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc'sFounder and Chief Executive: "I am thrilled that Bloomsbury's long-term values of publishing books of excellence and originality will find expression from our office in Delhi. India represents an enticing place for an international publisher with its huge and highly educated population of English readers - probably more of the book buying demographic than that of the UK, USA and Canada combined. Publishing books from India to the whole world and from our offices in London, New York and Sydney into India is fundamental to our global publishing strategy. Bloomsbury's worldwide Editor-in-Chief Alexandra Pringle will work closely with Diya KarHazra for the synergy which is at the heart of our two-way global publishing." Rajiv Beri, Bloomsbury India'sManaging Director: "We are delighted to launch Bloomsbury India and look forward to continuing the Bloomsbury tradition of meaningful and quality publishing. It's going to be an exciting journey." Diya KarHazra, Bloomsbury India's Publisher - Trade: "Bloomsbury has always been about good writing. It's been about entertaining and informing. Diana, whom you see in our logo, is a hunter, constantly looking for new talent. We will publish a range of voices and genres, both fiction and non-fiction. We will be attentive to our authors and nurture our list with the utmost care." Amit Bhatia, Bloomsbury India's Publisher - Academic & Professional: "There are significant publishing opportunities in academic publishing particularly in business, economics and management, which will be our focus areas."
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc launches Bloomsbury India Bloomsbury was founded in 1986 on the principle of publishing books of the highest quality. In India it will continue this tradition for fiction, non-fiction, academic, business and education with both Indian and international authors. In November 2012, we will publish the first Wisden India Cricketers Almanac 2012, followed in December by the spectacular Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan by William Dalrymple, whose previous books have been No. 1 bestsellers in India. On our fiction list, ManilSuri's bold and controversial new novel The City of Devi will be published in January 2013. Bloomsbury has an exceptional list of South Asian writers including Kamila Shamsie, Romesh Gunesekera, Rajesh Parameswaran, Roshi Fernando, Jaspreet Singh and Tishani Doshi. Bloomsbury India's authors include the international bestselling writers J.K. Rowling, Khaled Hosseini and Elizabeth Gilbert; Booker Prize winners Margaret Atwood and Howard Jacobson; Nobel Prize winner Nadine Gordimer; Orange Prize winners Madeline Miller and Anne Michaels, cookery books by the Michelin starred chefs Heston Blumenthal, Atul Kochhar and Raymond Blanc and the bestselling Anthony Bourdain. Bloomsbury India will distribute both UK and US imprints including the critically acclaimed and popular Arden Shakespeare. A rigorous academic list will focus on business, economics and management.
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201209210700097902M
to jump in on this share, ebooks seem to be doing well !!
this fell off a clff today been going downhill since the end of last week -has there been some bad news Yoda.Getting worried about you yoda with shaftsink/ gkn/ all retracing!! Joking Yoda only short term blips -go and buy some Hansteen Holdings
Very quiet on this board.........but thats the way i like it.Bought in today at 143p ;) SSShhhh! keep this under your hat.
EBOOK SALES SPUR BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING Sales of ebooks leapt 70pc at Bloomsbury, offsetting a fall in print sales, with best sellers such as Heston Blumenthal's 'Heston at Home' boosting the publishing house. Publishing house, Bloomsbury, pointed to a "seismic shift" in the book industry, revealing that ebook sales had jumped 70pc year-on-year in the three months through May. Bloomsbury on Wednesday said that the sharp leap in ebook sales had helped offset a 2pc decline in print sales during the same period. In a further sign of the rapid advance of ebooks, Bloomsbury added that the Association of American Publishers had reported that during the first quarter of the year, ebook sales had exceeded hardback sales. "Ebook sales continue to grow at a rapid rate and we are well placed to take advantage of this seismic shift in the book publishing industry. Despite the economic headwinds we are confident that we have the right strategy in place as well as a very strong list of authors for the coming year," said Nigel Newton, Bloomsbury's chief executive. With best sellers such as Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg Everyday!, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack 2012 and Heston at Home by Heston Blumenthal also boosting Bloomsbury, the publisher said its trading was in line with management's expectations. Bloomsbury added that it had made "significant progress in the period in growing academic and professional revenues and profits" with the acquisition of two businesses. In April, it bought New York-based Fairchild Books, a publisher of textbooks and educational resources for students of fashion, merchandising, retailing and interior design. Three months later, it bought Applied Visual Arts Publishing. Bloomsbury added that last month, the Churchill Archive was launched online following a two-year digitisation process. The online subscription archive is a collection of Winston Churchill's writing over 800,000 pages and Bloomsbury said it had already seen considerable interest in subscriptions from research centres, museums, universities and public libraries both in the UK and overseas. Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/retailandconsumer/9391454/Ebook-sales-spur-Bloomsbury-Publishing.html P.S. Here's a couple of links about SCLP, one of the hottest stocks at the moment: http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?threadid=256596 http://www.euroinvestor.com/community/discussionthread.aspx?threadid=253089
... says: buy! In today's Sunday paper.
buy recommendation: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/markets/article-2173587/MIDAS-Ebooks-magic-Harry-Potter-publisher-Bloomsbury.html
Investec Securities kept its "buy" stance on Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) with an increased target price of 183p, from 179p. With the firm having completed its exit from the German market, the broker believes the book publisher is on its way to becoming a higher quality business, targeting the digital and education markets. Investec forecasts 34% of revenues and 53% of profits to come from these sources by 2013, due to the higher margins that they offer
In the Telegraph, Questor wonders whether the publishers of the Harry Potter books, Bloomsbury, still has the magic touch. If it does, it will need to 'get with the programme' on digital platforms - so a 159 per cent increase in ebook sales last year is welcome news. Other impressive stats include a cool £12.6m of revenues from intellectual property sales (including copyright licences) while academic sales are strong. Trading at 9.5 times forward earnings Questor thinks Bloomsbury is worth a punt.