Bloomsbury has posted a profit increase of 34 per cent - its best performance in adult book sales since the final Harry Potter book.

Khaled Hosseini's bestsellers The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, which have sold more than 4 million copies, established the rise in adult sales to £20.5 million during the first half this year.

Other big hits included Sally Brampton's Shoot the Damn Dog and The Suspicions of Mr Whicher by Kate Summerscale.

The performance helped make up for a massive drop in children's sales, caused by the release of the final Harry Potter instalment - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - in 2007.

Bloomsbury's overall revenues were down 18 per cent to £42.1 million during the period to June 30, but pre-tax profits rose 38 per cent to £5.4 million.

The group said the outlook for the rest of the year was also good with the biography of US billionaire and investment guru Warren Buffett - due out September 29 - a new book from Harry Potter author JK Rowling in December and Schott's Almanac 2009.

Chief executive Nigel Newton said: "We have had a good first half performance, particularly in the UK adult and specialist divisions.

"As well as enjoying notable success from long-running bestselling titles such as The Kite Runner, we are well positioned with strong publishing lists for the second half and beyond."

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