How much does Children's Character Books Limited make?

Children's Character Books Limited reported revenue of £881k and a loss of £676k in the year to 31 Dec 2025, according to its accounts filed at Companies House.

How many employees does Children's Character Books Limited have?

Children's Character Books Limited reported an average of 0 employees in the year to 31 Dec 2025.

Is Children's Character Books Limited profitable?

No — Children's Character Books Limited reported a loss of £676k in the year to 31 Dec 2025.

Company No. 05032989 · Incorporated 3 Feb 2004

Children's Character Books Limited

Registered name: CHILDREN'S CHARACTER BOOKS LIMITED

Part of Bertelsmann UK Limited group

Children's Character Books Limited made £881k revenue and a £676k loss in the year to 31 Dec 2025.

Children's Character Books Limited’s revenue fell 20% to £881k in the year to 31 Dec 2025, with a loss of £676k and 0 employees. The company is classified under “book publishing” and is based in London; we hold 4 years of its filed accounts.

Full P&L filedSection J · Information and communicationSIC 58110Book publishing

Status: Active
Location: London, London
Age: 22 yrs · since 2004
Type: Private Limited Company

Part of a group. The filing indicates this company sits within a group structure, so its results may depend on intra-group trading and it may be hard to replicate independently.

Latest accounts · year to 31 Dec 2025

Key figures

Small team

Revenue

£881k

Growth ▼19.5%

Profit

−£676k

Growth —

Profit margin

−76.8%

Gross 13.4%

Employees

Change —

Profit / employee

—

Profitable streak

0yrs

Consecutive profitable years in our data

Badges are automated estimates derived from the filed figures — not statements of fact about the company.

4 filed years

Financial history

Multi-year financials, oldest to newest
Year to	31 Dec 2022	31 Dec 2023	31 Dec 2024	31 Dec 2025
Disclosure	Full P&L	Full P&L	Full P&L	Full P&L
Profit & loss
Revenue (turnover)	£2.7m	£1.7m	£1.1m	£881k
Cost of sales	£1.8m	£1.2m	£994k	£762k
Gross profit	£872k	£504k	£99.6k	£118k
Operating profit	−£212k	−£581k	−£638k	−£901k
Profit before tax	−£212k	−£581k	−£638k	−£901k
Profit after tax	−£150k	−£262k	−£479k	−£676k
Profit (best available)	−£150k	−£262k	−£479k	−£676k
Employees (average)	0	0	0	0
Ratios
Profit margin	−5.6%	−15.3%	−43.8%	−76.8%
Gross margin	32.7%	29.3%	9.1%	13.4%
Growth (year on year)
Revenue growth	—	▼35.6%	▼36.3%	▼19.5%
Balance sheet — indirect signals, not revenue
Cash at bank	£1.1m	£257k	£512k	£1.2m
Net assets	£136k	−£126k	−£605k	−£1.3m
Current assets	£3.1m	£1.6m	£1.7m	£2m
Debtors	£1.4m	£893k	£835k	£519k
Deferred income	£248k	£229k	£137k	£108k
Source	FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2024	FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2024	FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2025	FullAccounts · bulk data Sep 2026

Derived from the latest filing

How the business works

Profit margin: −76.8%; Profit ÷ revenue.
Gross margin: 13.4%; Gross profit ÷ revenue. High for software and services.
Revenue per employee: —; Revenue ÷ average employees.
Profit per employee: —; Profit ÷ average employees.
Cash conversion: —; Cash generated from operations ÷ operating profit. Needs a cash-flow statement.
Fixed assets ÷ revenue: —; Capital intensity. Low = capital-light, cheaper to start.
Deferred income ÷ revenue: 12.2%; Customers paying upfront (subscriptions, deposits). Approximate when combined with accruals.
Debtors ÷ revenue: 58.9%; Money owed by customers. Low = customers pay quickly.

Indirect — not revenue

Balance-sheet signals

Year-on-year changes in filed balance-sheet items. They can hint at momentum (or investment) but are not revenue or profit and must not be read as such.

Net assets: —; Now −£1.3m
Cash at bank: ▲138%; Now £1.2m
Headcount: —; Now 0
Deferred income: ▼22%; Now £108k
Fixed assets: —; Now —

Deferred income is reported together with accruals in this filing (“accruals and deferred income”), so it is an approximate signal only.

Corporate ownership

Group structure

Ownership chain

Bertelsmann UK Limitedultimate parent75–100%
Penguin Random House Limited75–100%
Penguin Books Limited75–100%
Children's Character Books Limitedthis company

Bands show the share of ownership each company holds in the one below it.

Sister companies (8)

Ladybird Books LimitedRev. £35m · Profit £4.2m
Frederick Warne & Co LimitedRev. £16.5m · Profit £6.9m
Ventura Publishing LimitedRev. £2.5m · Profit £977k
Snowman Enterprises LimitedRev. £757k · Profit £541k
Allen Lane the Penguin Press LimitedFigures not disclosed
Hamish Hamilton LimitedFigures not disclosed
Michael Joseph LimitedFigures not disclosed
Penguin Pension Trustee LimitedFigures not disclosed

From the Persons with Significant Control register (corporate controllers only).

Same industry, similar size

Similar profitable businesses

Industry benchmarks →

Sources

Companies House profile Filing history & original accounts

Latest figures from FullAccounts for the year to 31 Dec 2025 (profit −£676k), from the Companies House accounts bulk data published Sep 2026. Spotted an error? Request a correction.

Contains public sector information from Companies House licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Data from Companies House, © Crown copyright. View the licence.