Harry Potter and the Cursed Child maker remains in the red amid West End troubles

The company behind the globally popular stage play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, continues to face financial difficulties as falling sales and show closures take their toll. The joint venture responsible for producing the show worldwide reported a turnover of £41.3m for the year ending 31 March 2024, a decrease from the previous year's £45.2m.

According to recently filed accounts with Companies House, its pre-tax loss also increased from £960,026 to £876,003 during the same period. The last time the joint venture recorded a pre-tax profit was in the year ending 31 October 2020, when it achieved £955,945, as reported by City AM.

Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, founded by JK Rowling and Neil Blair in 2013, works alongside Sonia Friedman Productions and Colin Callender’s Playground through their joint venture, HPCC Group, to produce, invest in, and license the play. Over the course of the year, productions were staged in cities including London, New York, Hamberg, Tokyo, Melbourne, and Toronto.

However, the Melbourne production closed in July 2023 after a five-year run, and the Toronto show also ended that month after just over a year. Despite these closures, ticket sales increased from 496,214 to 544,257.

A statement approved by the board attributed the decline in revenue to a broader industry trend in the UK, with West End earnings falling after an exceptionally strong 2022, boosted by a surge in post-Covid demand.

"In London, the popularity of the original two-part production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child endures with the show celebrating its seven-year anniversary during the period."

"The show r