Bloomsbury Regulatory News (BMY)

18 Jul 2005 15:54

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC18 July 2005 18 July 2005 BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING Plc FIRST 24 HOUR SALES IN THE UK OF HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF BLOOD PRINCE Bloomsbury Publishing Plc announced today that sales of Harry Potter and theHalf Blood Prince have been exceptional and, according to Nielsen BookScan, theindependent book trade monitoring service, 2,009,574 copies were sold in thefirst 24 hours in the UK. This represents a 13% increase on the comparablefigure for first day sales of the previous title, Harry Potter and the Order ofthe Phoenix, in July 2003 of 1,777,541. The initial sales are in line with theGroup's expectations and AGM statement on 30 June. In addition to the good startto the launch of the sixth and latest Harry Potter book, which is benefitingfrom the significant marketing campaign undertaken by Bloomsbury, previoustitles in the series are also benefiting from the new launch. Ends Enquiries: Tim Spratt/Charles Palmer Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange