Bloomsbury still looking to bulk up

The absence of a new Harry Potter book this year contributed to a slide in profits at Bloomsbury but the books publisher claimed underlying growth was strong.Profit before taxation in the first half of 2009 tumbled to £1.8m from £5.4m a year earlier on revenue that declined to £35.3m from £42.1m.Gross margin increased to 51.0% from 46.1% in 2008, as a result of lower royalties, lower advance provisions and an increased contribution from long-term database and management contracts. 'The balance of the group's business has shifted as we maintain our expansion in academic and specialist publishing which is less susceptible to the vicissitudes of the consumer market and therefore less risky for the group,' said Bloomsbury's chief executive Nigel Newton.The company remains on the look-out for more acquisitions, having recently copleted the purchases of Tottel and the Hodder Higher Education lists.'We have a very strong list for Autumn 2009 and are confident of generating good sales from a number of titles,' Newton said, adding that second half results could be affected by the outcome of the current negotiations with third parties on several major database projects as well as Christmas trading. The interim dividend has been increased by 4% to 0.78p from 0.75p last year.