Bloomsbury's First Half Slows, but the Publisher Still Expects Records

Bloomsbury's sales fell 5 percent in the first half of its financial year, to £151.6 million, and its adjusted profit before tax dropped 30 percent to £16.8 million. The London-listed publisher, home of the Harry Potter books in the UK, released the figures on Thursday 22 October for the six months to 31 August 2026.

"Adjusted profit before tax" is the company's own measure of profit before tax, with certain one-off items set aside. The comparison period brought in £159.5 million in revenue, so the fall in sales is a little under £8 million.

Consumer publishing, the part of the business that sells books to general readers rather than schools or universities, reported revenue of £102.8 million and a profit of £9.8 million. Bloomsbury had announced on 5 October that its interim results, the company's half-year accounts, would arrive on this day.

The more striking message is about what comes next. Bloomsbury said it expects its second half to include two new books by Sarah J. Maas, the fantasy writer behind the Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses series. It also pointed to the premiere of a new HBO television series based on Harry Potter as a driver of growth in the months ahead.

On the strength of those titles and that series, Bloomsbury said it still expects to break records in the second half. Its results were published as unaudited, meaning they have not yet been checked by external auditors, a standard step for interim figures.

Publishing rarely moves in a straight line. A few big titles can lift a year, and a slow season can follow when those books are not on the list. Bloomsbury's first half was a softer stretch, and its outlook rests heavily on the second.

For readers, the arithmetic is simple. The company's profit fell, its sales slipped, and its hopes now sit with a handful of releases and a television premiere. Whether those deliver is the question the next set of results will answer.