Interim Results

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
26 September 2001

                          Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

               Results for the six months ended 30th June 2001

                             (26 September 2001)

Highlights


  * Turnover for the six months to 30th June increased by 100% to £22.721m
    (2000, £11.365m)

  * Pre-tax profit before goodwill amortisation increased to £2.850m 
    (2000, £0.273m)

  * Performance is in line with declared strategy of balancing the two
    halves of the financial year which, as with many publishers, has been
    weighted in previous years towards the second half.

  * Basic earnings per share before goodwill increased to 11.70 pence per
    share (2000, 1.44 pence per share)

  * Interim dividend increased by 50% to 1.5p per ordinary share (2000, 1.0p
    per ordinary share)

  * Net cash on deposit increased from £7.472m at 31st December 2000 to £
    15.610m at 30th June 2001 (including £1.989m set aside for loan note
    holders)

  * Continuing pipeline of bestsellers in 2001: 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, Witch Child by Celia Rees

  * Backlist revenue from book sales excluding A&C Black increased 142% to £
    12.290m (2000, £5.076m)

  * Bloomsbury USA launches Children's Division

  * Audio list started. Authors to include Joanna Trollope and Margaret
    Atwood.

Nigel Newton, commenting on the company's prospects for the rest of the year,
said:

'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. Bloomsbury does not rely, in any way, on
advertising revenue, and consequently will not suffer from the current
downturn in advertising revenues. The company's balance sheet is strong, with
significant cash on deposit for future investment to fuel organic growth and
help fund potential acquisitions. The publishing programme for the remainder
of this year and indeed for 2002 is exciting, and we expect to continue to be
significantly cash generative for the foreseeable future. The release of the
first Harry Potter film on November 16th will, we believe, trigger a dramatic
increase in sales as a new audience is introduced to the books. Historically,
books have proved to be resilient in economic downturns as they are seen as a
low cost purchase. We remain very positive about the outcome for the year-end
and the longer-term future of the company.'



For further information please contact:

Simon Forrest, Impact Consultancy Ltd

Tel: [phone]

Mobile: [phone]

John Barrington-Carver, Impact Consultancy Ltd

Tel: [phone]

Mobile: [phone]



Bloomsbury Publishing plc Interim Announcement

OVERVIEW

We had a very strong set of results for the six-month period ending 30 June
2001. Turnover for the group increased by 100% to £22.721m for the first six
months of this year (2000: £11.365m) on the back of a first time contribution
in the first half from A&C Black of £4.741m, increased backlist turnover from
Bloomsbury and a strong publishing frontlist. This performance is in line with
our declared strategy of balancing the two halves of the financial year which,
as with many publishers, has been weighted in previous years towards the
second half. The gross margin for the group was 45.1% (2000: 39.3%) which was
mainly attributable to a traditionally higher margin from A&C Black's business
of 63.7% and an increase in Bloomsbury's margin from 39.3% to 40.2%. Pre-tax
profit before goodwill amortisation increased from £0.273m in the first half
of 2000 to £2.850m in the first half of this year. Of the £2.850m, £0.604m was
generated by A&C Black. Earnings per share before goodwill amortisation for
the period increased more than eightfold to 11.70 pence per share (2000, 1.44
pence per share). Cash flow continues to be strong, with cash on deposit of £
15.610m (31 December 2000: £7.472m), which includes £1.989m set aside for loan
note holders.

One of the most important factors contributing to the group's results has been
the continuing success of Harry Potter even though no new Harry Potter title
was scheduled to be published this year, as we confirmed more than a year ago.
Success with our book publishing across the board also lies behind the strong
figures. There were strong performances from books such as The Fourth Hand,
appearing for weeks in the Sunday Times top ten; the Booker Prize winning
Blind Assassin; and The Death of Vishnu, a hardback bestseller with a major
film deal now signed. Bloomsbury USA's activities also are expanding to
include the publishing of children's books. Another key factor is the growth
in our backlist sales which, excluding A&C Black, increased 142% to £12.290m
(2000: £5.076m). The group's figures also benefited from a significant
increase in A&C Black's turnover, a consequence of the strength of its
publishing list.



INTERIM DIVIDEND

The directors have declared an interim dividend of 1.5 pence per share (2000:
1.0 pence per share), which will be paid on 23 November 2001 to those
shareholders on the register at close of business on 2 November 2001. The
increase in the interim dividend reflects the growing contribution to the
group's annual operating profit of the first half-year and a more progressive
dividend policy as a result of the company's increasing profitability.



OPERATIONAL REVIEW

Book Division

In the first half of 2001, Bloomsbury's adult publishing division saw highly
encouraging results from established authors, as well as newcomers to the
list. John Irving's The Fourth Hand has become a major bestseller and was our
first Amazon.co.uk Book of the Month, while The Blind Assassin continues to
sell strongly. Since winning the Booker Prize, The Blind Assassin has also
been shortlisted for the Orange Prize. Michael Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost has
been shortlisted for the Irish Times International Fiction Award.

The Stone Carvers by Jane Urquhart has been number one in Canada since
publication, and was published in the UK to great critical acclaim. Meaghan
Delahunt's In the Blue House and Danzy Senna's From Caucasia, With Love were
both longlisted for The Orange Prize, launching two authors very strongly into
the public eye, while William Shawcross's Deliver Us From Evil won the Orwell
Prize. The first two books on the Writer and the City series, The Flaneur by
Edmund White and 30 Days in Sydney have both won acclaim and have been
bestsellers in several countries. Four of the twenty-four titles on this
year's Booker Prize longlist were published by Bloomsbury.

The children's list consolidated the successes of last year. There has been
significant growth in backlist sales driven partly by the success of the Harry
Potter books and also by other discoveries including Holes, Witch Child, The
Selfish Crocodile and several of our other illustrated books.

Foreign co-edition sales continued to grow with successes including the Five
Little Fiends, which has been sold in seven languages, and Witch Child with
fourteen foreign rights sales including a Japanese edition.

Harry Potter continues to break records. One of our main projects during the
first half was the preparation for the launch of the paperback edition of
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which went on sale on July 6th. Bearing
the slogan '100 million people can't be wrong', this campaign helped to drive
substantial sales for the first three titles as well as for The Goblet of
Fire. The substantial sales of The Goblet of Fire paperback are not included
in the results for the first six months of 2001.

A new initiative was the planning of a Children's List in the USA. Our
strategy here, as with the Bloomsbury USA adult list, will be to focus
initially on books from the UK and then within two years to start publishing
US originated books that fulfil Bloomsbury's criteria. The first list of sixty
titles will be published in 2002.

We have started an audio list and early authors to join us are Joanna Trollope
and Margaret Atwood. Our first title will be The Diaries of Kenneth Tynan read
by Simon Callow.

The publication of Kitchen Confidential in paperback cemented Anthony
Bourdain's reputation as a successful commercial writer. By the end of August,
it had spent thirteen weeks in the Sunday Times Bestseller list. It was
launched with a major marketing campaign, including extensive press activity
and advertising, such as four-sheet London Underground posters.

Other notable successes included The Battersea Park Road to Enlightenment and
the prize-winning Dangerous Parking. Redesigning and promoting backlist titles
continues to generate increased revenues. A new logo has been used to launch a
series of branded paperback original titles.

Bloomsbury USA is still on track to become a significant revenue generating
operation within the group. Kitchen Confidential, our highest selling book in
2000 outside the Harry Potter series, continues to be a big success in 2001
with translation rights now sold to fourteen countries. The author's next
book, A Cook's Tour is due for publication at Christmas accompanied by a
twenty-three part television series on the Food Network. On the marketing and
publicity front, Bloomsbury USA has been punching above its weight very
successfully with regular full-page reviews of its books in the New York Times
Book Review, author appearances on key TV and radio talk shows and numerous
book launch events. Several important book acquisitions have been made for
publication over the next two years on both sides of the Atlantic.

The increased visibility of the list worldwide, widespread review coverage,
innovative packaging and design of all titles will, we envisage, lead to even
more prize-winning bestsellers and continued backlist revenue growth over
time. Additions to our list in forthcoming months include new books by our
bestselling authors, Anthony Bourdain, Joanna Trollope and David Halberstam.
Important newcomers to Bloomsbury include the Booker shortlisted author Romesh
Gunesekera, and Tim Pears, whose second novel, In a Land of Plenty, was
recently adapted for a major BBC television drama series. He joins us with his
fourth novel, Wake Up!



Reference And Electronic Media

Several major projects were completed in the first half of the year, including
the publication in May of the third in the Encarta Reference range, the
Encarta Thesaurus.

Two further major dictionaries in the Encarta range are due for publication in
the autumn, the Encarta Concise English Dictionary and the Encarta College
Dictionary, to be published in the US and Canada. This latter publication
signals our entry into the high-volume US College dictionary market. Both of
these new Encarta publications have a number of important editorial
innovations, which will mark them out from their competitors. By the end of
the year there will be five publications in the Encarta range, illustrating
our ability to extract maximum value from our reference databases. As an
example of our strategy to establish Encarta as the English language reference
brand, two major conferences were held earlier this year on the usage of the
English Language, one in London at the RSA and the other in Washington at the
Smithsonian Institution.

We are also nearing completion of the important ELT (English Language
Teaching) dictionary project, which we are working on with Macmillan, one of
the world's leading ELT specialists. The market for this work is considerable
and growing as English becomes the main language of communication for the
world.

Our third major database, the Business Encyclopedia, is on schedule for
publication in late 2002. The Business Encyclopedia promises to be the most
authoritative work of its kind ever published, with a number of leading world
business figures joining our team of authors. We now have some one hundred
experts working on this database, which we anticipate will generate, like
Encarta, a full range of different titles, in many formats and sizes. Interest
in the foreign language and electronic rights to the database continues to
gather momentum.

We are currently developing concepts for several other database projects and
are in discussion with a number of potential licencees. This should further
establish Bloomsbury's position as a world-leading content creator for print
and electronic media.

Our on-line strategy with the multi-faceted Bloomsburymagazine.com, launched
in late 2000, continues to be successful. The Sunday Times described the site
as 'the quintessential literary site: clear, cultivated and offering a
pleasing sense of community'. Le Monde wrote, 'one of the most innovative
sites on the web. Once again Bloomsbury is a pioneer.'



A & C Black

A strong publishing programme for the first six months of the year increased
turnover by 13.9% to £4.741m (2000, £4.162m). Pre-tax profits increased by
40.1% to £0.604m (2000, £0.431). Highlights during this period included the
publication of the Racing Rules books from Adlard Coles Nautical, our
specialist nautical list, and the launch of the Blue Guide City Guides,
described in the Sunday Times as a series which 'sets the standard for travel
guides'. The children's and educational lists performed strongly, helped by
the continuing growth of the Developing Literacy and Numeracy series for
primary school teachers as well as the successful launch of a new series of
music tutors for children, Recorder Magic.

A&C Black's London operation has now moved into Bloomsbury's offices. The
transition went smoothly and included the integration of its IT systems with
our own. Arrangements for export selling via Bloomsbury's existing agents
Penguin International, Allen and Unwin and Raincoast have now been finalised.
Further sales opportunities across both companies, such as special sales and
schools representation, are now in place which will begin to yield results in
the coming months.



OUTLOOK

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. Bloomsbury does not rely, in any way, on
advertising revenue, and consequently will not suffer from the current
downturn in advertising revenues. The company's balance sheet is strong, with
significant cash on deposit for future investment to fuel organic growth and
help fund potential acquisitions. The publishing programme for the remainder
of this year and indeed for 2002 is exciting, and we expect to continue to be
significantly cash generative for the foreseeable future. The release of the
first Harry Potter film on November 16th will, we believe, trigger a dramatic
increase in sales as a new audience is introduced to the books. Historically,
books have proved to be resilient in economic downturns as they are seen as a
low cost purchase. We remain very positive about the outcome for the year-end
and the longer-term future of the company.





Nigel Newton

Chairman

26th September 2001



RESULTS

The unaudited profit and loss account for the six months ended 30th June 2001
was as follows:
                             6 months ended   6 months ended  Year ended 31st
                             30th June 2001   30th June 2000    December 2000

                                (unaudited)      (unaudited)        (audited)

                                      £'000            £'000            £'000

Turnover                             22,721           11,365           50,676

Cost of sales                      (12,468)          (6,902)         (29,387)

Gross profit                         10,253            4,463           21,289

Marketing and distribution          (2,565)          (1,791)          (7,657)
costs

Administrative expenses             (5,333)          (2,360)          (7,953)

Goodwill amortisation                 (299)                -            (299)

Operating profit                      2,056              312            5,380

Net interest receivable/                495             (39)               77
(payable)

Profit on ordinary                    2,551              273            5,457
activities before taxation

Taxation                              (872)             (71)          (1,727)

Profit on ordinary                    1,679              202            3,730
activities after taxation

Dividends                             (254)            (168)            (844)

Retained profit for the               1,425               34            2,886
period

Basic earnings per share              9.93p            1.44p           24.11p

Diluted earnings per share            9.25p            1.36p           22.78p

Basic earnings per share             11.70p            1.44p           26.04p
before goodwill

Diluted earnings per share           10.90p            1.36p           24.60p
before goodwill



CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
                                          30th June     30th June 31st December
                                          2001               2000          2000

                                          (unaudited) (unaudited)     (audited)

                                                £'000       £'000         £'000

Fixed assets

Intangible assets                              11,368           -        11,667

Tangible assets                                 1,167         375         1,097

                                               12,535         375        12,764

Current assets

Stocks                                         13,494      10,817        11,499

Debtors due within one year                    11,404      18,013        28,680

Debtors due after more than one year            5,240       6,056         5,096

Cash at bank and in hand                       15,610       2,231         7,472

                                               45,748      37,117        52,747

Creditors: amounts falling due within one      14,463      15,168        23,666
year

Net current assets                             31,285      21,949        29,081

Total assets less current liabilities          43,820      22,324        41,845

Creditors: amounts falling due after more         936       1,821         1,095
than one year

Provisions for liabilities and charges          2,703       2,396         2,003

                                               40,181      18,107        38,747

Capital and reserves

Called up share capital                           846         704           844

Share premium account                          31,235      13,580        31,228

Capital redemption reserve                          9           9             9

Profit and loss account                         8,091       3,814         6,666

Total shareholders' funds                      40,181      18,107        38,747




CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
                                           6 months      6 months    Year ended
                                         ended 30th    ended 30th 31st December
                                          June 2001     June 2000          2000

                                        (unaudited)   (unaudited)     (audited)

                                              £'000         £'000         £'000

Net cash inflow from operating                8,508         2,061         4,797
activities

Returns on investments and servicing
of finance

Interest paid                                     -          (63)         (131)

Interest received                               495            24           208

Net cash inflow / (outflow) from
returns on investments and servicing
of finance                                      495          (39)            77

Taxation

Tax paid                                          -             -          (90)

Capital expenditure

Purchase of fixed assets                      (208)          (53)         (358)

Sale of fixed assets                             10             -            14

                                              (198)          (53)         (344)

Acquisitions

Purchase of subsidiary undertaking                -             -      (16,433)

Net cash acquired with subsidiary                 -             -           733

                                                  -             -      (15,700)

Equity dividends paid                         (676)             -         (590)

Financing

Issue of ordinary share capital (net              -             -        17,737
of expenses)

Loan notes issued in connection with              -             -         1,989
acquisition

Repayment of loans                                -         (356)       (1,025)

Share options exercised                           9            64            67

Net cash inflow/(outflow)                    ______        ______        ______

                                                  9         (292)        18,768

Increase in cash                              8,138         1,677         6,918




RECONCILIATION OF OPERATING PROFIT TO NET CASH FLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES

                             6 months ended    6 months ended   Year ended 31st
                             30th June 2001    30th June 2000     December 2000

                                (unaudited)       (unaudited)         (audited)

                                      £'000             £'000             £'000

Operating profit                      2,056               312             5,380

Depreciation of tangible                134                49               167
fixed assets

Goodwill amortisation                   299                 -               299

Profit on disposal of                   (6)                 -               (8)
tangible fixed assets

(Increase) / decrease in            (1,995)           (1,310)                38
stocks

Decrease / (increase) in             17,143               863           (8,773)
debtors

(Decrease) / increase in            (9,123)             2,147             7,694
creditors

                                     ______            ______            ______

Net cash inflow from                  8,508             2,061             4,797
operating activities
                                     ______            ______            ______







NOTES TO THE ACCOUNTS:


 1. The earnings per ordinary share for the six months to 30th June 2001 is
    based on the profit on ordinary activities after taxation of £1,679,000
    (2000 - £202,000) and on a weighted average number of ordinary shares in
    issue of 16,901,244 (2000 - 14,070,800). The earnings per ordinary share
    for the twelve months to 31st December 2000 is based on the profit after
    taxation of £3,730,000 and a weighted average number of ordinary shares in
    issue of 15,470,759. The fully diluted earnings per share has been
    calculated by reference to a weighted average number of Ordinary Shares in
    issue of 18,143,263 (6 months ended 30 June 2000 - 14,875,098, year ended
    31 December 2000 - 16,377,783) which takes account of share options.



 2. The figures for the six months ended 30th June 2001 do not comprise full
    accounts. The financial information included in this document has been
    approved by the Directors and prepared on a consistent basis with the
    accounts for the year ended 31st December 2000. Accounts for the year
    ended 31st December 2000, which received an unqualified audit report, have
    been lodged with the Registrar of Companies. This announcement is being
    sent to shareholders and will be made available at our registered office.




INDEPENDENT REVIEW REPORT TO BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING Plc

Introduction

We have been instructed by the company to review the financial information set
out on pages 5 to 7 and we have read the other information contained in the
interim report and considered whether it contains any apparent misstatements
or material inconsistencies with the financial information.

Directors' responsibilities

The interim report, including the financial information contained therein, is
the responsibility of, and has been approved by the directors. The accounting
policies and presentation applied to the interim figures are consistent with
those applied in preparing annual accounts except where any changes, and the
reasons for them, are disclosed.

Review work performed

We conducted our review in accordance with the guidance contained in Bulletin
1999/4 issued by the Auditing Practices Board. A review consists principally
of making enquiries of group management and applying analytical procedures to
the financial information and underlying financial data and, based thereon,
assessing whether the accounting policies and presentation have been
consistently applied unless otherwise disclosed. A review excludes audit
procedures such as tests of controls and verification of assets, liabilities
and transactions, it is substantially less in scope than an audit performed in
accordance with Auditing Standards and therefore provides a lower level of
assurance than an audit. Accordingly we do not express an audit opinion on the
financial information.

Review conclusion

On the basis of our review we are not aware of any material modifications that
should be made to the financial information as presented for the six months
ended 30th June 2001.

HLB Kidsons

Registered Auditors

Chartered Accountants

26th September 2001