OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS is to pay a £100m dividend to the university, almost double last year's figure, after revealing its profits have been left unscathed by the recession.
OUP, which is a department of the university, is pouring back £100.7m compared with £56m in 2008, underlining its increasing importance as a source of income. Profits last year rose 6% to £88.7m. Over the past 11 years, OUP has paid £478m to the university. Its annual basic payment is £26m but for three years it has typically been double that, which has gone towards refurbishment of the New Bodleian library building, the purchase of a books repository and of a former hospital site to be used for expansion.
The university obtained permission to print books in 1586 and is the world's largest university press. Its early profits came from producing the King James authorised Bible, the Oxford English Dictionary and important research texts. More recently it has made overseas acquisitions and expanded into schools' publishing, music and English language teaching. Its status as a charity means it paid only £4.3m in tax last year, a bone of contention with commercial rivals such as Pearson. Sales rose 18% to £578.7m but the growth was flattered by sterling's weakness against the dollar.