Harry Potter Still Magic – Bloomsbury Reports

The publisher for Harry Potter in the UK, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, reports a 35% increase in sales for the series in it’s interim financial report for 2022.

Sales of Harry Potter titles were strong, up 35%. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was the 2nd bestselling children’s book of the year to date on UK Nielsen Bookscan, on the 25th anniversary of its first publication, showing the enduring appeal of this classic series

BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC
Unaudited Interim Results for the six months ended 31 August 2022

In the last full year report for 2022 Harry Potter sales grew by 5% compared with a growth of 2% in other Children’s titles. How important the books are for Bloomsbury can be judged by the 2021 report which shows seven of their top ten best selling titles come from the series. Two of these, including the top spot are for complete boxed sets. Given that this report contains the year that Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was given away free to the world as we struggled with Covid lockdown, it is amazing to think that sales increased 7% that year too.

While idly checking out the company’s financial report, I thought it would be fun to check out the first mention of J.K. Rowling’s works in the 1997 report:

… the Smarties prize [was awarded] for Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by Joanne Rowling. …

… The second in the children’s Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will also be published later this year.

BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC
Results for the twelve months ended 31 December 1997

And compare it with the report for 2007, when Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was published:

2007 saw the publication of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the final title in the Harry Potter series. With 2,652,656 copies sold out of UK bookshops on the first day of release, the book exceeded all expectations. With all seven books in the series now published, the books are available in a range of box sets and formats. The series will remain a children’s classic for years to come.

Revenue in Children’s increased 261.4% to £98.92m (2006, £27.37m). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, published in July 2007, was the main contributor to the increase. Gross profit for Children’s for 2007 increased 198.9% to £39.60m (2006, £13.25m) with the contribution to administrative expenses up 219.6% to £30.01m (2006, £9.39m).

BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC
Results for the twelve months ended 31 December 2007

While the kind of performance shown in the 2007 report may belong to publishing folklore, Harry Potter is still a force in publishing, and growing stronger every year.