British published Bloomsbury saw eBook sales rise 89 percent to approximately $7.26 million from March through August of 2012 over comparable sales in 2011, the company said in an earnings report published today.
The company’s overall revenue for the period was approximately $70 million, up two percent from 2011. However, profits fell 37 percent compared to the same period last year.
According to the report, Bloomsbury expects eBook sales to continue to rise in Q4, as new eReader devices will likely keep content sales up. Nigel Newton, chief executive at Bloomsbury stated, “Higher ebook sales and academic turnover continue to increase the weighting of our sales to the second half. In addition we have a strong second half list, including potential best sellers, and are targeting a significant number of rights and services contracts. We remain well positioned for the future and results continue to show a positive trend over the longer term.”
During the third quarter, the publisher acquired two academic publishers — Fairchild Books which they bought for $6.1 million and Applied Visual Arts Publishing which they bought for approximately $2.8 million. The company reported that its academic division now represents 28 percent of its continuing sales, which is up from 20 percent last year.