PENGUIN BOOKS LIMITED — The Accounts

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Next accounts due

2026-09-30 (in 4mo)

Last filed for 2024-12-31

Confirmation statement due

2027-04-20 (in 11mo)

Last made up 2026-04-06

Watchouts

None on the register

Cash

£7M

+1,203.6% highest in 3 filed years

Net assets

£139M

-3.2% lowest in 3 filed years

Employees

792

-8.9% lowest in 3 filed years

Profit before tax

£57M

+10.7% highest in 3 filed years

Net assets

5-year trend · vs Consumer Discretionary median

PENGUIN BOOKS LIMITED·Consumer Discretionary median · n=5592

Accounts

5-year trend · latest reflected 2024-12-31

Metric	2022-01-01	2022-12-31	2023-01-01	2023-12-31	2024-12-31
Turnover	—	£240,722,000	—	£230,928,000	£247,168,000
Operating profit	—	£41,173,000	—	£29,131,000	£39,002,000
Profit before tax	—	£38,885,000	—	£51,039,000	£56,511,000
Net profit	—	£30,472,000	—	£43,332,000	£45,757,000
Cash	—	£46,000	—	£549,000	£7,157,000
Total assets less current liabilities	—	£169,624,000	—	£172,688,000	£157,705,000
Net assets	—	£138,760,000	—	£143,062,000	£138,519,000
Equity	£125,740,000	£138,760,000	£138,760,000	£143,062,000	£138,519,000
Average employees	—	928	—	869	792
Wages	—	—	—	£49,740,000	£44,508,000

Values shown as filed in the company's annual accounts. — indicates the figure wasn't present under that line item in that period. About these numbers

Ratios

Computed from the line items above — sparklines read oldest → newest

Ratio	2022-01-01	2022-12-31	2023-01-01	2023-12-31	2024-12-31
Operating margin	—	17.1%	—	12.6%	15.8%
Net margin	—	12.7%	—	18.8%	18.5%
Return on capital employed	—	24.3%	—	16.9%	24.7%
Current ratio	—	—	—	2.34x	2.52x
Interest cover	—	122.90x	—	43.54x	236.38x

Margins divide P&L lines by turnover. Gearing is liabilities over total assets. Current ratio is current assets over creditors falling due within one year. Interest cover is operating profit over absolute finance costs. Sector-distribution context coming next.

Audit & accounting basis

Accounting basis: FRS 101
Reporting scope: Standalone (parent only)
Auditor: Grant Thornton UK LLP
Audit opinion: Unqualified (clean)
Going concern: Affirmed
“Based on the Company's current trading performance, the sensitivity and reverse stress testing scenarios performed, the directors have a reasonable expectation that the Company has adequate resources to continue in operational existence for the foreseeable future, being a period of no less than twelve months from the date of approval of these financial statements. Accordingly, they continue to adopt the going concern basis in preparing the financial statements.”

Group structure

PENGUIN BOOKS LIMITED · parent
1. Allen Lane The Penguin Press Limited 100% · United Kingdom · Book publishing
2. Frederick Warne & Co Limited 100% · United Kingdom · Book publishing
3. Michael Joseph Limited 100% · United Kingdom · Book publishing
4. Hamish Hamilton Limited 100% · United Kingdom · Book publishing
5. Ventura Publishing Limited 100% · United Kingdom · Book publishing
6. Ladybird Books Limited 100% · United Kingdom · Book publishing
7. Snowman Enterprises Limited 100% · United Kingdom · Book publishing
8. Children's Character Books Limited 75% · United Kingdom · Book publishing

Significant events

“The Company paid a dividend of £50,000,000 in the year (2023 - £40,000,000).”
“In August 2024, the Company exited the lease agreement and disposed of the right-of-use asset.”
“In late 2023, PRH UK acquired Quadrille and included their additional 1495 m² warehouse space at Macmillan Distribution Ltd in the Grantham site's questionnaire.”

Auditor, going-concern and subsidiary information is drawn from the narrative of the latest annual accounts. About these numbers

People

5 active · 53 resigned

Name	Role	Appointed	Born	Nationality
MARTIN, Sinead Mary	Secretary	2016-06-30	—	—
GARDINER, Mark William	Director	2014-03-31	Apr 1961	British
MALAVIYA, Nihar	Director	2023-01-01	Nov 1974	Indian,American
WADDINGTON, Robert Angus	Director	2017-01-31	Apr 1970	British
WELDON, Thomas Daryl	Director	2010-01-01	Aug 1963	British

Show 53 resigned officers

Name	Role	Appointed	Resigned
ENGLE, Cecily Julia	Secretary	—	1998-09-14
PEACOCK, Helena Caroline	Secretary	1998-09-14	2016-06-30
ADAM, Max Nicholas	Director	1995-07-11	2000-06-08
ALEXANDER, Clare Frances	Director	—	1997-01-31
ANNAN, Juliet	Director	1997-04-07	2005-07-29
ATTENBOROUGH, Elizabeth Margaret	Director	—	1995-09-18
BAMFORD, Laura Elizabeth	Director	1994-07-13	1994-10-24
BOWRON, Peter David	Director	2001-08-23	2005-10-07
BRENNAN, Suzanne Margaret	Director	2009-07-06	2014-03-31
BRISTOW, Kevin Michael	Director	1995-07-11	1996-02-29
CAMPBELL-SMITH, Duncan John	Director	1996-06-01	1999-12-01
CARSON, Peter Thomas Staheyeff	Director	—	1997-12-31
CLARKE, Roger Grenville Quinton	Director	1993-11-29	1999-01-31
COWSER, John Richard	Director	1998-06-29	2000-01-31
DOHLE, Markus Franz-Joseph	Director	2017-01-01	2022-12-31
ENGLE, Cecily Julia	Director	—	2001-12-31
FIELD, Peter	Director	2007-01-01	2012-12-31
FLOYER, Sally Margaret Doris	Director	—	2008-03-31
FORBES WATSON, Anthony David	Director	1994-09-29	2005-02-28
FRANKLIN, Andrew Cecil	Director	—	1995-07-14
FRASER, Helen Jean Sutherland	Director	1997-01-27	2009-12-31
GLOVER, Trevor David	Director	—	1995-11-24
HALEY, Peter Nicholas	Director	1996-12-06	1999-02-12
HALL, Stephen Derek	Director	—	1998-01-31
HERRIDGE, Michael Geoffrey	Director	1999-03-01	2002-04-15
HUTCHINSON, Patrick Burgon John	Director	—	1995-11-29
JAMES, Laurence	Director	1996-11-12	1998-08-14
JOHNSON, Brenda	Director	—	1995-03-01
KIRKLAND, Nicholas Charles	Director	1998-08-03	2000-09-30
LACEY, Anthony Stephen	Director	—	2005-07-29
LANDERS, Brian James	Director	2003-05-20	2009-07-31
LYNTON, Michael	Director	1996-11-12	2000-01-31
MAKINSON, John Crowther	Director	2002-06-01	2016-12-31
MAYER, Peter Michael	Director	—	1996-12-31
MCCARTHY, Patrick John	Director	1995-03-03	1997-12-31
MILNES-SMITH, Philippa Jean	Director	1995-09-26	2001-03-31
PECK, John James	Director	—	1993-12-31
POWER, Charles Richard	Director	1999-08-16	2003-02-28
ROLFE, Alastair David	Director	1996-01-18	1999-10-22
ROLFE, John Henry	Director	—	1997-08-01
ROSENHEIM, Andrew Keeney	Director	1997-09-29	2001-10-05
SHORE, Genevieve Helen	Director	2005-10-07	2007-07-01
SUPPLE, Frances	Director	1995-11-06	1996-08-31
SYMONS, Michael John	Director	2007-10-15	2017-01-31
TAYLOR, Susan Elizabeth	Director	1999-04-06	2005-12-31
WAN, David Andrew	Director	2000-02-01	2002-05-31
WATT, Susan	Director	—	1998-01-31
WEBSTER, John Walter	Director	—	1996-01-19
WELDON, Thomas Daryl	Director	1997-02-10	2005-07-29
WELHAM, Andrew Peter	Director	1995-03-03	2006-12-31
WILLIAMS, Nigel John	Director	—	1995-11-24
WILSON BARKER, Rosalie Mavis	Director	—	1995-09-01
YGLESIAS, Jonathan Roy Ramon	Director	—	1997-06-30

Ownership

Persons with significant control

Name	Kind	Nature of control	Notified	Status
Penguin Random House Limited	Corporate entity	Shares 75–100%, Voting 75–100%, Appoints directors	2016-04-06	Active

Filing timeline

Last 20 of 220 total filings

Date	Type	Category	Description
2026-04-08	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2025-09-18	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type full	PDF
2025-04-08	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2024-11-04	AD01	address	Change registered office address company with date old address new address	PDF
2024-10-30	AD01	address	Change registered office address company with date old address new address	PDF
2024-09-23	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type full	PDF
2024-04-12	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2023-09-26	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type full
2023-04-13	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2023-01-05	AP01	officers	Appoint person director company with name date	PDF
2023-01-03	TM01	officers	Termination director company with name termination date	PDF
2022-10-04	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type full
2022-04-12	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2021-12-21	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type full
2021-04-12	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2021-02-10	AUD	auditors	Auditors resignation company
2020-09-24	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type full
2020-04-14	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF
2019-09-27	AA	accounts	Accounts with accounts type full
2019-04-11	CS01	confirmation-statement	Confirmation statement with no updates	PDF

Public-record activity

Raw counts from Companies House — last 12–24 months

Filings: 2
Capital events: 0
Officers appointed: 0
Officers resigned: 0

Direct counts from the register. No score, no rating — see the Filing timeline for the underlying events.

Year-on-year

FY2023 → FY2024 · period ending 2024-12-31 vs 2023-12-31

Turnover

+7%

£230,928,000 £247,168,000

highest in 3 filed years
Cash

+1,203.6%

£549,000 £7,157,000

highest in 3 filed years
Net assets

-3.2%

£143,062,000 £138,519,000

lowest in 3 filed years
Employees

-8.9%

869 792

lowest in 3 filed years
Operating profit

+33.9%

£29,131,000 £39,002,000
Profit before tax

+10.7%

£51,039,000 £56,511,000

highest in 3 filed years
Wages

-10.5%

£49,740,000 £44,508,000

Each % is (latest − prior) ÷ |prior| for the line item as filed. Periods don't have to be exactly 12 months apart — a long or short period (typical around incorporation or year-end changes) will distort the comparison. Lines a company doesn't report are omitted. About these numbers

Official Companies House page