The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

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Bloomsbury still in hunt for acquisitions

27.06.08 Philip Jones

Bloomsbury boss Nigel Newton has stressed that the group is still looking for company acquisitions after growing its cash assets to £50m in the past six months.

In the company's a.g.m. statement, Newton said that the group was trading in line with expectations, despite Bloomsbury USA continuing to operate in a "difficult" US market.

Newton said that tight cost controls had kept cash flows strong. He said: "As a result of a tougher book acquisition policy, the cost control programme in progress across the group and lower than expected returns for credit of unsold books, cash flow has been strong in the year to date. Cash held at 30th June is expected to be in excess of £50m."

Newton added: "Company acquisitions are very much at the forefront of the group's growth strategy. We have a strong balance sheet which puts us in a good position to take advantage of opportunities as they arise."

Bloomsbury USA was continuing to operate in a difficult market, Newton said: "we are managing the cost base to enable it to operate more efficiently".  

Newton heaped praise on the books of Khaled Hosseini after the "incredible growth in the popularity of the books" was the success story for Bloomsbury in the first six months of 2008. "A year after its first publication, A Thousand Splendid Suns was still the highest selling book in the UK for the first six months of 2008."

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