Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury plots some international magic

Bloomsbury is plotting an ambitious growth course that will see the publisher of the Harry Potter series expand further in the US and its home market, Britain.

That follows the company's foray into Germany with the acquisition of publishing group Berlin Verlag from its founder, Arnulf Conradi, in April.

"The UK and the US are the most likely places for future acquisitions and, like all acquisitions, they will be opportunistic," said Nigel Newton, chairman of Bloomsbury.

Mr Newton, founder of Britain's only surviving listed publisher, which owns Whitaker's Almanack, and dictionary and language publisher Peter Collin, wants a firmer footing in the reference book market.

This follows the success of the Microsoft Encarta English Dictionary, an online and printed joint venture that is expected to generate £40m over the next 10 years.

"All decisions are [based] on a desire to increase the company's back list sales of books," he said.

Pre-tax profit rose 14% to £3.56m in the six months to the end of June, on a turnover of £29m, up 18%.

Mr Newton denied that Bloomsbury was a one-product publisher, saying the profit figures were little influenced by the fifth Harry Potter title, The Order of The Phoenix, published on June 21.

"You just have to embrace it because it is lucky we have something so big - but it doesn't diminish the success of the 739 other books we published last year," he said.

The series, which has sold 200m books worldwide, is to be published in ancient Greek and Gaelic following the success of the Latin and Welsh versions.

The bulk of proceeds from the fifth title, which has sold 1.28m copies in Britain, will flow into the second half. Analysts expect the company to post a pre-tax profit of about £16m for the full year, up nearly £5m on the previous year.

Mr Newton is confident the company can repeat its success in 2004, despite the absence of Harry Potter.

Heading next year's list will be a follow-up title from Ben Schott, whose Schott's Original Miscellany hit the bestseller list last Christmas, and a novel by Steven Bochco, creator of television series LA Law and NYPD Blue.

"Schott and Harry Potter will lead to a drive in sales growth through to the next year," Mr Newton said.

"We will increase exploitation of our portfolio not only through publishing but through rights selling."

The group was committed to finding new talent as well as investing in established authors.