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Book wholesaler Bertrams has grown pre-tax profit by 84% to £6.4m in a “transformational year”, helped by its purchase of Dawson Books, the company has announced.
The Norwich-based business grew sales by 31% to £174.3m after it bought Dawson Books in June 2011, Bertrams’ parent company Smiths News said in its annual financial results for the year ending 31st August 2012.
Bertrams' major sales gains have been in the international market, where it increased revenue by 12.3% before acquisition and 70% after the acquisition, leaving the company well-placed to capitalise on the European English-language speaking market, the company said. Its next biggest sales gains have been in e-books, with like-for-like revenue rising by 44% after it opened up its Dawsonera platform to the Far East.
The public libraries market also performed well, seeing a revenue hike of 11.2% like-for-like. Bertrams said this was “after a difficult period in the previous year when confidence was affected by government spending cuts”. It added: “Academic library sales are flat and do not appear to have been affected by changes to student funding.”
Domestically, Bertrams has grown book sales in the UK by 2.5% in a general market which was down by 7%, driven by supplying new internet book retailers.
“Looking at the broader books market, it is clear that our diverse customer base is an on-going strength. Bertrams' revenues now come from a balanced portfolio of traditional and internet retailers, academic and public libraries, international customers, and a leading academic e-book platform,” the company said.
Bertrams has targeted £2.5m of cost efficiency savings from the integration of Dawson Books and the closure of Dawson Holdings head office and the company said a further £1.3m is targeted for 2013 and 2014.
“Looking ahead Bertrams has an enviable range of opportunities, including plans to capitalise on the growth of internet retailing, international demand and e-books,” the company said. “Bertrams continues to trade ahead of UK market trends and we are pursuing a number of initiatives to drive medium term growth targets. Our previously stated targets of £200m of sales and £10m of profits by 2014 remain, and we expect our faster growing digital and international segments to help achieve those targets.”
Smiths News reported a 23.1% increase in underlying profit before tax to £47.5 million, and revenues of £1.8bn, up from £1.7bn in 2011. This reflects the integration of Dawson Holdings and the company’s more recent acquisition of supplier The Consortium.