Cookbooks help Bloomsbury to strong Christmas

16.01.14 | Joshua Farrington - The Bookseller

Bloomsbury had a strong Christmas, with cookbook sales contributing to a 20% rise in turnover year on year.

The publisher released an interim management statement today (16th January) for the four months ending 31st December 2013, revealing a 15% rise in digital turnover for the period, driven by growth in the US. However, the business also saw a 17% decline in rights and services turnover
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At the end of 2013, the publisher has £100,000 in cash, down from £7.7m at the end of 2012, mainly due to the £6.2m acquisition of academic law publisher Hart Publishing in September. In the same month, Bloomsbury also acquired the natural history list from New Holland Publishers.

Four of the group's top ten titles over the period were cookery titles, with Tom Kerridge's Proper Pub Food singled out as a particular success. Other cookbooks mentioned in the statement include Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Veg Everyday! and Atul's Curries of the World by Atul Kochhar.

Chief executive Nigel Newton said: "Bloomsbury has delivered a very good performance during the period, underpinned by strong title sales. Our ability to identify growth areas of the market for us, as we have done with cookery, and then build a leadership position in these markets has helped to drive this performance. We are well positioned for the future."

The statement also mentions several future plans for the company, including the planned launch in May this year of Bloomsbury Collections, a new digital e-book platform for higher education institutions, which will feature 2,000 titles on opening.
From September 2015, the publisher will release all seven of JK Rowling's Harry Potter books in full-colour editions, illustrated by Jim Kay.