Bloomsbury Publishing Share Discussion Threads

[18bt] 07/12/2023 12:52

Agree with you on timing - they must be pretty confident on actual sales happening so less concerned about post-Christmas trade returns from over-stocking.

[wjccghcc] 07/12/2023 09:00

It was predictable but quite a bit earlier than expected. The new SJM book isn't released until January AFAIK.

[dicktrade] 07/12/2023 08:45

Ive never been into the Fantasy Fiction genre so always struggled to understand the attraction but on our younger family's Christmas Present lists there were 5 requests for SJM books. So im not surprised at the update .

[jimmywilson612] 07/12/2023 08:27

Just a well run company. Having BMY in my portfolio allows me to sleep easy at night

[adamb1978] 07/12/2023 07:58

Agreed 18BT. Analyst expectations, as guided by the company, are always very low for BMY.

Think we're look at perhaps 36p EPS so current share price is very undemanding given BMY's consistent growth, cash balance and strong record of improving metrics

[18bt] 07/12/2023 07:26

Upgrade seemed quite predictable, but nice to have confirmation.

[sharesoc] 03/12/2023 15:46

Join us on 6th December at 5:30pm for an engaging SIGnet after-meeting, hosted by Head of SIGnet Bill Fawkner-Corbett, focused on Bloomsbury's (BMY) Interim Results. This Zoom session promises a dynamic and insightful discussion, offering a platform for members to share their perspectives, analyse the results, and connect with each other. Register here:

[strollingmolby] 30/11/2023 12:48

I see that Waterstones has named Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell as its Book of the Year 2023, another one in the Bloomsbury stable, and should do well for Christmas!



'This is as close to perfect as fiction gets: immaculate world-building, dazzling storytelling, and adventure galore. Rundell isn't afraid to trust young readers with weighty themes, but never loses sight of the need to make reading joyous and fun, celebrating humour with as much care as awe and wonder. It is an immediate classic which children will delight in for years to come, and which will remind adults of the genius to be found within the pages of children's books.'

BEA CARVALHO, HEAD OF BOOKS

[john09] 22/11/2023 07:34

New SCSWatcher thread now has 28 followers which is great. Be good to get around 40 regulars on there ahead of 2024

Please save the thread in your favourites and like it at the top of the thread so we can keep a tab on numbers.

[trcml] 01/11/2023 13:22

Regardless of where else you buy BMY books, you won't line others at BMY's expense. That expense is factored into the minimum 'wholesale' price that the others pay to buy from BMY. If you buy direct from BMY then you'd be giving BMY more profit but that's all.

[terry236] 31/10/2023 17:31

I’d have thought they were purposely pricing themselves above the others - 1) they have a higher cost to serve than Amazon…
2) they need their distribution partners…

[dicktrade] 31/10/2023 14:31

TBF I imagine it is not a good look for Bloomsbury to undercut their customers, so they will only sell thru their own site at recommended retail.

[18bt] 31/10/2023 14:12

A slight aside, but I was just looking at buying John Guy's Hunting the Falcon
Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage That Shook Europe as I studied under him 40 years ago. So decided to look and see whether I could buy from BMY and cut out the middleman. £27 on BMY (plus delivery if less than £30)and £24.99 at Waterstones and £24.65 from Amazon. It's a crazy market when they can't get closer to the Amazon price... So the choice is which of the sharks of Amazon or Eliott Advisers do I line the pockets of at the expense of BMY..

[saltwood] 30/10/2023 10:15

Yes, I always value the comments on this thread. A happy shareholder and follower of this community!

[18bt] 30/10/2023 07:33

Thanks for quality comments on this thread. Nice to have s/h who analyse and share!

[adamb1978] 28/10/2023 14:49

Just been through the interims and guidance properly. Their 'confidence' about hitting the market forecasts of £273m isnt remotely surprising given they did £137m in H1 and usually are slightly H2 weighted. Assuming a 48/52 split gets you to £288m, from which they might easily make 35p EPS, which puts them on a PE of just over 11x.

Crazy multiple given the quality of the metrics...

[cellars] 26/10/2023 12:17

referring to the receivables - Note 7 in the report is illuminating. All lines are consistent with the CEO's trading report except possibly the Royalty advances line. May be something to do with the timing of the new Maas book? A brief explanation would have been nice. The explanation may well have justified / demonstrated the business flexibility the cash pile provides.

referring to the short term trade and other liabilities - these are down by £4.3Mn from prior interims whereas I would have expected c.£8Mn increase based on the trading. Unfortunately there is no explanatory note.

[jimmywilson612] 26/10/2023 09:01

On the receivables - I'm no expert but I assume its the cyclical nature of their business.

On the 31st August - when the snapshot has happen - retailers would be stocking for Christmas but will be on payment terms (30/60 days?) so it'll be expected at that time of year to have large receivables on the books.

[adamb1978] 26/10/2023 08:34

Hi 18BTYes, great set of results with strong turnover growth and gross margins increasing further.Re the market forecasts, these guys consistently sandbag in the same way that they are this year. Market forecasts look way too low so you need to run your own numbers to value it. PE is probably around 12x for this year at 410-420p.Agree on the receivables point. Not sure why but it was similar last year - high w/cap build up in H1. Will email the CFO.Expect more acquisitions imminently too

[18bt] 26/10/2023 07:27

Continues to produce strong results. Rebalancing the dividend is a nice one-off treat. No comment on the big (£12m) rise in receivables which affected cashflow - though cash production is still strong.

Market forecasts for 2024 look eminently beatable and 2025 and 2026 forecasts are only for revenue growth of 3-4%. It sounds like the company thinks it should grow faster than that. SO good value IMHO.

[melloteam] 09/10/2023 12:45

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[eigthwonder] 25/9/2023 13:27

I think UK small cap funds are in sell only mode, with the most at rick being growth orientated managers: BMY is a darling of the UK small cap growth community and directly in the firing line.

[adamb1978] 25/9/2023 13:07

The company believe that AI isn't a threat to their business, though of course most companies will say that. Its a topic which I'd imagine would be repeated on further investor calls though so won't go unanswered.

I'm more interested in what their plans are for their cash pile...

[essentialinvestor] 25/9/2023 12:18

Shares looking friendless ATM.

Still think this relates to a perceived threat from AI to their educational publishing
business - whether this is valid or not, I can't answer.

[shanklin] 15/9/2023 07:31

Daily Telegraph gives 5* to book bigged up by #BMY in the NONRNS yesterday, comparing her favourably with Tolkien and Pullman. Maybe in time we will know this one should have been an RNS :-)