Cambridge University Press has reported turnover of £101 million for 1999, driven by a "spectacular growth" in sales through Internet booksellers, especially in the US. The figure represents an eight per cent increase compared with sales in 1998 and is the first time in the publisher's history that revenues have exceeded £100 million.
CUP made an overall profit of £10.2 million of which £3.6 million was returned to Cambridge University. As part of the University, CUP is a registered charity and does not pay tax on profits.
Sales in the UK increased by five per cent to £24.4 million for the year to end-December 1999, representing 22 per cent of CUP's total turnover. Turnover through wholesalers Gardners and Bertrams has increased, a trend which CUP attributed to a rise in sales through Internet booksellers. Nigel Atkinson, CUP UK sales director said that the rapid growth of Internet booksellers posed a challenge to academic bookshops. The company said it had "high hopes" for a new specialist academic bookshops on the Internet.
In the UK, CUP enjoyed strong sales in educational and professional titles and especially from ELT, which was seen as a growth market. But sales on the academic side were flat. Sales of the humanities and social science lists had declined, especially through the book club market. CUP described the drop as "disappointing, but hardly surprising given the difficulties of the domestic book trade".
North America, which is CUP's largest single market, generated £36.4 million in sales: 36 per cent of total revenue. Sales growth in the US was 5.3 per cent, driven by "the ever increasing numbers of Internet booksellers, most notably Amazon. com, but also the proliferating websites devoted to college students". As a large proportion of CUP's Internet sales passed through wholesalers, it was impossible to estimate the level of Internet sales. But CUP estimated that from a very small proportion in 1998, Internet sales had increased to between 10 per cent and 15 per cent in the US.
The remainder of CUP's revenue - 42 per cent - comes from 193 countries worldwide. Recovery in the Asian markets helped to boost sales, with the ELT and academic lists performing especially well. The value of CUP's net assets increased by £6.6 million during the year, reflecting the acquisition of two pieces of land adjacent to its Cambridge warehouse, which it is planning to replace with a new 105, 600 square feet distribution facility by the end of 2001.