Trump pauses some tariffs on autos, Canadian and Mexican goods

Commenting on the results, Nigel Newton, Chief Executive, said: “Bloomsbury delivered excellent results in the first half with year-on-year revenue growth of 29% to £100.7 million and profit growth of 225% to £12.9 million. These are our highest ever first half sales and profits. These results demonstrate the strength and resilience of our strategy of publishing for both the consumer and academic markets, and our growth of digital revenues. Both divisions had outstanding performances. The Consumer division continued the momentum of last year with 29% revenue growth and a £5.6 million increase in profit before tax and highlighted items to £8.4 million. Bestsellers during the period included Tom Kerridge’s Outdoor Cooking, Piranesi by Susanna Clarke, A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas, The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Since the period end Bloomsbury authors have won two of the most important prizes in the literary world, The Nobel Prize for Literature and The Women’s Prize, which were won by Abdulrazak Gurnah and Susanna Clarke respectively. We congratulate them both. The Non-Consumer division saw 27% growth and a £3.2 million increase in profit before tax and highlighted items to £4.6 million. Bloomsbury Digital Resources grew by 44% in addition to a very strong recovery in print sales, which grew by 34%. The focus on our online academic digital resource strategy means we are well placed to continue to benefit from the accelerated shift by academic institutions to digital products to support hybrid learning.

Highlights for the first quarter: • As part of our transformation plan, on April 10, 2018, we launched a major national expansion with a reinvention of our Metro urban commuter newspapers and more robust digital offerings on thestar.com in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto, Halifax and nationally. This expansion leverages the Star brand and its history and unique position of local and investigative reporting. • Ended the first quarter of 2018 with $51.5 million of cash and cash equivalents and $7.7 million of restricted cash; Torstar has no bank indebtedness. • Our net loss from continuing operations in the first quarter of 2018 was $20.9 million ($0.26 per share) compared to a net loss of $24.4 million ($0.30 per share) in the first quarter of 2017. Click Read More below for additional information.

Pre®Brands, purveyors of the world's best grass-fed beef, has launched an e-commerce store to sell its premium, hand-trimmed 100% grass-fed and finished steaks and ground beef to eager consumers across America. Pre®prides itself in maintaining the highest quality standards for all of its products, in order to bring discerning shoppers the best beef nature provides. And consumers have noticed – since its start in 2015, Pre®has been America's fastest growing beef brand*. Two years later, Pre®'s expanding in-store retail presence, largely in the Midwest, hasn't kept up with burgeoning national consumer demand – a need e-commerce will help meet. Pre® can now be purchased online at www.eatpre.com. Click Read More below for additional information.