Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury has said its full-year pre-tax profits edged up 0.8 per cent to £12.1 million in the year to the end of February.

That performance was helped by reissues of books about the boy wizard as well as strong growth in sales at its academic and professional unit.

The company said sales of the Harry Potter novels, written by JK Rowling, with new covers by illustrator Jonny Duddle jumped 29 per cent compared with a year ago.

Shares in Bloomsbury rose 0.88p to 178.88p.