British publisher Bloomsbury has revealed its profits in 2006 – a year in which no new Harry Potter book was released – were down by 74 per cent.
Earnings at the London-based group fell to £5.2 million in the last 12 months, compared to £20.1 million in the previous year, buoyed by the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the seventh and last book in JK Rowling's best-selling series, goes on sale on July 21st this year, but today's results put further pressure on Bloomsbury to find a replacement for the boy wizard.
The group's chairman Nigel Newton admitted that the last year had been "challenging", but that a 31 per cent fall in turnover to £74.8 million was in line with December's trading update.
"Turning to the current year and beyond, we have in place a growth strategy which includes expanding on our current author relationships, developing new authors, web-based initiatives, content monetisation, leveraging our geographic presence, and acquisitions, all of which we believe will enhance and strengthen our position as a leading publisher," he insisted.
The six Harry Potter books published so far have sold almost 380 million copies worldwide and been translated into more than 60 languages.
Digg 
Delicious 
Reddit 
StumbleUpon 
Google 
Technorati 
Netvouz