Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury on Wednesday warned print sales could plunge in the three months to July due to the coronavirus crisis, before a recovery starts to take place.
The company has been hit by bookshop closures during the crisis, and said the board has modelled a severe but plausible downside scenario from the crisis.
Under the worst-case scenario print revenues are reduced by 60%-65% for the three months of expected global restrictions to July. It then predicts a gradual recovery through to March 2021.
Chief executive Nigel Newson said: "Since the year end, the coronavirus pandemic has led to significant disruption across all our key markets. The impact may be substantial. Orders for print books, which comprised 79% of the company's revenue for the year ended 29 February 2020, are being affected in all our markets."
Newton, who founded Bloomsbury Publishing in 1986, told the Evening Standard he thinks people will be desperate to “get back to bookshops when it is safe to do so”.
He added that the difficulties in the print division have been partly offset by strong demand for e-books and audio. Sales of books online for delivery have also been positive.
Newton said that in the year to February 29 Bloomsbury had a robust performance, with strong growth in its non-consumer division, which includes academic books.
In Bloomsbury’s consumer arm it saw resilient sales of Harry Potter titles, while Three Women by Lisa Taddeo was among the bestselling adult books.
Full-year pre-tax profits rose 10% to £13.2 million, and revenues edged up to £162.8 million from £162.7 million.
