Trading Statement

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
13 January 2005

13 January 2005



                           Bloomsbury Publishing Plc

                            Pre-Close Period Update



Bloomsbury Publishing Plc ('Bloomsbury' or 'the Group') announced that it
expects the Group's results for the year ended 31 December 2004, which will be
announced on 30 March 2004, to be in line with market expectations.



Sales during the last three months of 2004 were strong in all three of the
Group's major markets. In the UK, we had a strong autumn list with The Two of Us
- My Life with John Thaw by Sheila Hancock reaching Number 1 on the bestseller
lists and through A&C Black we published for the first time Reed's Nautical
Almanac, which sold in line with our expectations. In Germany, the market
continues to be difficult, but the successful launch of the new Bloomsbury
Berlin list is showing that there is considerable demand for the type of books
we publish. Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell and Schott's Original Miscellany are
both doing well on the new list with Schott also having reached Number 1 on Der
Spiegel bestseller list. Bloomsbury USA's autumn list performed well, supported
by  the Booker Prize winning book The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst and
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell which reached Number 1 on several US bestseller
lists.



In December we confirmed that the sixth Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the
Half-Blood Prince, will be published on 16 July and this will clearly be an
important event for Bloomsbury this year.



The acquisition of US publisher, Walker Publishing Company, Inc was completed on
31st December and is already being integrated. The new company will be run by
Karen Rinaldi who currently heads up Bloomsbury USA. Cost savings will be made
through the combination of the two businesses, with Walker taking advantage of
the favourable book printing rates Bloomsbury enjoys. Previously, Walker has
sold on its paperback rights to other publishing houses and from 1 January 2005
these will be retained for in house publication from 2006 onwards.



We look forward to another good year in 2005 with the list of titles we have
scheduled for publication.



                                      ENDS





Enquiries:
Tim Spratt/Charles Palmer
Financial Dynamics                                    020 7831 3113





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