Bloomsbury Publishing PLC on Thursday reported strong revenue and profit figures, with it now expecting to outperform consensus estimates for the full year.

The FTSE 250-listed publishing firm said its pretax profit for the six months to 31 August rose 58% to £22.1 million from £14.0 million the year prior.

Revenue for the London-based business increased by 32% to £179.8 million from £136.7 million the previous year, representing its fifth consecutive year of double-digit interim revenue growth.

Bloomsbury shares are trading up 8.5% at 740.00 pence a share on Thursday afternoon in London.

The business reported notable growth in its consumer division, up 47% and driven by the maintained success of a range of bestsellers and fantasy authors such as Sarah J Maas.

The firm has increased its interim dividend per share by 5.1% to 3.89 pence from 3.70p the prior year. This is consistent with its progressive dividend policy reiterated today.

Bloomsbury Chief Executive Nigel Newton said: ‘Bloomsbury’s strong results reflect implementation of the recently announced Bloomsbury 2030 vision, focused on our growth, portfolio and people.

‘We have achieved our fifth consecutive double-digit growth in the first half [and]... have acquired Rowman & Littlefield, significantly strengthening our academic portfolio.

‘Following our strong performance in the first half of this year and good trading in September and October, we now expect trading for full year 2024/25 to be ahead of the current consensus expectation.’

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