Bloomsbury has announced that its trading in the year to 28 February was "ahead of consensus expectations".

The publishing firm said this was a result of a "strong performance in the second half".

Although it has not outlined exact figures, the firm stated that it will be above its previous guidance of £333.4m in revenue and £39.6m in profit before tax.

Bloomsbury said that success in its consumer division was "broadly based" across its portfolio, while the acquisition of US academic publisher, Rowman & Littlefield in May 2024, has helped drive growth in its non-consumer division.

It added that its digital resources arm grew in the full year, despite the budgetary pressures highlighted in its interim results.

As a result, the firm has been able to pay down $7.5m of its $27.m debt associated with the acquisition of Rowman & Littlefield.

The firm said that ahead of its preliminary results on 22 May, its "authors, customers, consistent performance and the scale and resilience" of its business continues to underpin the confidence it has in the future.

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, said: "Bloomsbury is a rare example of a COVID winner which has kept on winning since we emerged from the pandemic, with its latest trading update a compelling read for shareholders.

"Today’s statement and the latest upgrade to guidance are an indication of how well the business is performing. The acquisition of US academic publisher Rowman & Littlefield looks to be integrating smoothly. The deal added 40,000 academic titles to Bloomsbury’s portfolio and helped build upon the publisher’s 2030 strategy unveiled in May 2024.

"The robust underlying performance of the business even put it in the enviable position of paying down debt associated with Rowman & Littlefield."

---