Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

1
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

• Interim Results
• Six Months to 30 June 2003
• Increased Exploitation of the Portfolio

2
Continued Expansion

• One of the busiest periods in the Groups history
• Foreign language rights retained and exploited
  in-house for the first time with the acquisition
  of Berlin Verlag
• Rationale of Bloomsbury USA affirmed by their
  putting Schotts Original Miscellany on the NYT
  Bestseller list and thereby demonstrating their
  synergy with Bloomsbury UK
• Harry Potter continues to add significant value
  to the Groups portfolio of intellectual property
• Strong list across all three divisions
• First half investment to be reflected in future
  earnings

3
Continued Expansion

• Increased long-term investment in author advances
  
• Titles acquired up to 2005 publication
• Success of the list is quality driven
• Jeffrey Eugenides wins Pulitzer prize with
  Middlesex
• Margaret Atwood and Barbara Trapido longlisted
  for 2003 Booker Prize
• Seven authors shortlisted for WH Smith prizes

4
Key Financials

• Turnover up 18.2 to 29.00m (2002 24.54m)
• Pre-tax profit before goodwill amortisation
• up 13.7 to 3.56m (2002 3.13m)
• Basic EPS before goodwill amortisation
• up 14.1 to 3.65p (2002 3.20p)
• Dividend increased 15 to 0.474p (2002 0.4125p)
• Marketing and distribution costs up 59.0 to
  5.12m (2002 3.22m) reflecting increased
  investment in titles
• Balance sheet remains strong to support future
  growth net cash of 15.44m (31 December 2002
  19.17m)

5
Consolidated Turnover and Gross Profit Growth for
the Six Months to 30th June
18.2
29.4
6
Consolidated Operating and Pre-tax profit for the
Six Months Ended 30th June
19.6
13.8
The figures are stated before goodwill
amortisation.
7
Basic Earnings Per Share Growth for the six
months ended 30 June
14.1
The figures are stated before goodwill
amortisation.
8
Financial summaryConsolidated Balance Sheet
31st December
30th June


Cash on deposit includes 0.5m set aside for
loan note holders (31st December 2002, 0.6m)
9
Financial summaryCash flow
30th June
30th June
10
Investment In Future Years Titles
Investment increased 13.3 since December 2002
13.3
10.6
Dec
Dec
Jun
Dec
11
AdultSchott update

• Schotts Original Miscellany in UK Bestseller
  list for 38 weeks
• Published in the US in August 2003 and has shot
  to No 5 on the New York Times Bestseller list
• Schotts Food and Drink Miscellany receiving huge
  interest from retailers in the lead up to
  publication in the UK this November

12
AdultSchott update

• Schotts merchandise will start with the launch
  of Schotts Calendar box in November 2003. Huge
  advance demand from the bookshops and already
  re-printing
• Schotts Original Miscellany to be published in
  Germany by Berlin Verlag in 2004
• Schotts Sports Miscellany to be published in 2004

13
Adult

• Strong second half programme
• Paperbacks editions of 2002 hardback bestsellers
• Donna Tartt and Jeffrey Eugenides
• Major new books from existing authors
• Ben Schott
• David Guterson
• Potential bestsellers from new authors
• The Kite Runner Khaled Hosseini
• Death By Hollywood Steven Bochco

14
Reference and Electronic Media

• Peter Collin Publishing now integrated into
  Bloomsbury Reference
• All Peter Collin Publishing titles have been
  fully databased
• Commencing selling electronic rights to Peter
  Collin Publishing books.
• Encarta Database is being updated for the
  publication of the second edition of the World
  English Dictionary in 2004

15
Reference and Electronic Media

• Business The Ultimate Resource - Six new
  electronic partners in 2003
• Quantum of electronic deals demonstrates its
  versatility and commercial potential as an online
  reference tool
• Macmillan Learners Dictionary continues to sell
  well
• Rights to the Encarta database and Learners
  Dictionary sold in China

16
AC Black

• Turnover increased by organic and acquisition
  growth
• All four recent acquisitions successfully
  integrated into the Group
• Launch of the ground-breaking Migration Atlas
  (Poyser)
• Re-launch of The Reeds Marine Engineering Series
  (Thomas Reed)

17
AC Black

• Sports list performing very well with new high
  profile titles
• Fitness on a Plate
• The Body Lean and Lifted
• Whitakers Almanack
• Full range of Almanacks to be published this
  year in September and October
• Fully revised and updated

18
Childrens

• Very strong first half programme
• Sharon Creech wins Carnegie Medal for Ruby Holler
• Working closely with Bloomsbury USA and Berlin to
  acquire world rights to books
• Pirates! by Celia Rees
• Selfish Crocodile by Faustin Charles and Michael
  Terry

19
ChildrensHarry Potter

• Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix
  published on 21st June
• First simultaneous launch of an adult hardback of
  Harry Potter
• Increased demand for first four books in the
  series
• Re-affirms Harry Potter series as a provider of
  significant revenues for the Group for many years
  to come
• Latin and Welsh editions published by Bloomsbury,
  worldwide including USA.

20
Bloomsbury USAA Year of Two Halves

• Flat US trade
• Expanding into non-traditional outlets
• Success in acquiring high profile authors
• Joanna Trollope, David Leavitt and Stanley Bing
• Childrens list performing ahead of budget
• Increasing titles in Adults list by 25 in 2004
• Increasing overhead investment and staffing for
  next phase of growth
• US Rights Director appointed new position

21
Bloomsbury USA

• Strong second half programme
• Schotts Original Miscellany No5 on the New York
  Times Bestseller list in August and September
• Other big titles for 2003 include
• Faerie Wars Herbie Brennan
• Pirates! Celia Rees
• You Look Nice Today Stanley Bing

22
Berlin Verlag

• Acquired in March 2003
• Has first class reputation in the German market
• Invested 2 million Euros to the end of June to
  fund expansion and new childrens list
• Integration and restructuring will be complete by
  the end of 2003
• Forecast loss in 2003
• Soon will be making positive contributions to the
  Group

23
Berlin Verlag

• Complements Bloomsbury in terms of strategy,
  culture and approach to publishing
• Authors include Margaret Atwood, David Guterson
  and Nadine Gordimer
• Childrens list to launch in the Autumn with six
  titles exploiting rights acquired by Bloomsbury
  UK
• Bigger childrens programme for 2004
• Berlin is investing more aggressively in its
  publishing programme as a result of its
  relationship with Bloomsbury
• Using the Bloomsbury childrens imprint in
  Germany as it is already established in the
  English language in European territories

24
Outlook

• First half investment will show long-term
  benefits
• Strong second half publishing programme across
  all three divisions
• Schott series predicted to become an
  international success
• Harry Potter and The Order of The Phoenix
  strong sales in second half
• Growing international contributions
• Berlin will publish its first ever childrens
  list
• 25 increase in US adult list in 2004
• Continuing to appraise acquisition opportunities

25
Summary

• Continued success from Harry Potter, Schott and
  other leading titles driving forward sales growth
  into 2004
• Significant cash generated over the next twelve
  months will be used to grow the business and fund
  acquisitions that satisfy the Groups acquisition
  criteria
• Berlin first step in the Groups expansion into
  foreign language publishing
• Bloomsbury USA entering new phase of growth to
  become a more significant contributor to the
  Group
• Increased exploitation of the portfolio