Bloomsbury to launch Australian division

18.05.10 | Catherine Neilan in The Bookseller

Bloomsbury is planning to launch an Australian division next January, the company has announced as part of its interim management statement released this morning.

The remainder of the interim statement concentrated on Bloomsbury's performance for the first quarter of 2010, which it described as "holding up well".
The statement added: "The outcome for the year is still dependent on the level of consumer and business to business demand between now and the end of the financial year. We continue to focus on managing our cost base and are continuing to invest carefully in our future publishing programme."

The publisher has long distributed into Australia, using publisher Allen & Unwin for distribution. But from the start of 2011, Bloomsbury will publish directly in Australia, with the aim of being "earnings enhancing" from the first year.

Kathleen Farrar, currently marketing director of Bloomsbury UK, will take the reins as managing director. She is originally from Australia, and has previous experience of Australian publishing, Bloomsbury said. Allen & Unwin will provide sales and distribution services to the new company, which is to be based in Sydney.
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