Bloomsbury announced this morning that revenue for the first quarter ended May 31 rose 19%, in line with management expectations. The increase at the U.K.-based publisher was led by its adult group where sales rose 21% helped by sales of And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, which was released in May. Half of the sales of the novel in the period were e-books, Bloomsbury reported. Other adult bestselling titles were Paul Hollywood's Bread and How to Bake, Wisden Cricketers' Almanack and in the U.S. The Cooked Seed by Anchee Min.
The company said that digital sales rose 31% in the quarter, but that print title revenue rose 16% and “contributed the majority of the year on year increase in total revenues.” The acquisitions of Fairchild Books and Applied Visual Arts Publishing, together contributed 1% of the 19% year on year increase in the period.
