Drop in profits for Bloomsbury

Publishing house Bloomsbury reported a drop in annual profits today but said best-sellers including Ben Macintyre's spy story 'Operation Mincemeat' had given a boost to trading at the start of 2010.

The firm posted profits of £7.1m (€7.9m) for the year to December 31, down from £11.6m (€12.9m) after the prior year's revenues were boosted by the paperback version of JK Rowling's final Harry Potter book.