Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury said today that profit for its fiscal year 2020 will be significantly above market expectations as people bought more books during pandemic lockdowns.
"The popularity of reading during lockdown is a ray of sunshine in an otherwise very dark last year," chief executive Nigel Newton said.
He added that February, the final month of the company's financial year, saw exceptional sales.
London-based Bloomsbury said sales were strong in its consumer division, which includes Harry Potter, while its digital academic content has also seen increased demand for remote access to learning materials.
The publisher said its long term expectations remain unchanged and it did not know if consumer behaviour will change after academic institutions reopen and leisure activities ramp up.
Britain, which is currently under a third national lockdown, has published a roadmap to get the country gradually out of restrictions.
Schools reopened in early March but universities are yet to welcome back students at full capacity.
Bloomsbury said it had returned £63,000 of furlough funding it received from the UK government and repaid temporary salary reductions for staff.
The company said full-year profit would be significantly ahead of market expectations, which was upgraded in January.
The current consensus estimates for revenue is £171m and profit before tax of £14.8m, the company said.
Bloomsbury had reported revenue of £162.8m and profit before tax of £15.7m for 2019.
