HARRY STILL CASTING HIS SPELL OVER READERS

STRONG sales of academic textbooks lifted annual profits up to £14m at publisher Bloomsbury – as Harry Potter again worked his magic.

Profits were 9pc higher than the previous year, while revenues edged up 0.7pc to nearly £163m. The biggest UK hit in the year to February 28 was young adult title A Court of Frost and Starlight, by American writer Sarah J Maas.

The next two top performers were both Potter novels by JK Rowling, more than two decades after she launched her teenage wizard tales.

Children’s book sales dropped from £11.6m to £9.7m but academic and professional book sales boosted non-consumer revenues by 7pc. Chief executive Nigel Newton said: ‘Bloomsbury had a very strong year. Our results demonstrate the underlying strength, resilience and further potential of our global publishing strategy.’

Its dividend rose to 8p per share, up from 7.5p.