Bloomsbury expects Harry Potter movie to boost sales

Bloomsbury Publishing is poised for a massive increase in Christmas book sales following the launch of the Harry Potter movie.

But the company stresses that its success is not solely based on the popularity of the young wizard.

The group says pre-tax profits for the six months to June 30 increased to £2.85m, from £273,000 in the same period last year. This was in line with market forecasts.

Turnover for the six months increased by 100% to £22.7m.

The company says the release of the first Harry Potter film on November 16 will trigger a dramatic increase in sales as a new audience is introduced to the books.

Nigel Newton, the company's chairman, said that the printers are poised for "very large reprints" on the back of the movie.

"It will make people want to know more about what they have just seen. For a lot of people in that category, the movie is the first introduction to the series."

He says the publication of the fifth Harry Potter book is 'unscheduled', although JK Rowling is writing it at the moment.

Mr Newton says Bloomsbury is a "broadly based house" and is expanding its US operations.

Its continuing pipeline of bestsellers include: The Fourth Hand by John Irving; Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain; The Flaneur by Edmund White; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by JK Rowling; The Death of Vishnu by Manil Suri; and Witch Child by Celia Rees.

The group is proposing to raise its interim dividend by 50% to 1.5p per ordinary share.

Mr Newton adds: "The prospects for the company, both in the UK and overseas, are excellent, with the Christmas period promising to be strong due to the number of potential bestsellers on our list."