• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Login
  • Register

Publishers Lunch

The Publishing Industry's Daily Essential Read

  • Publishers Marketplace
  • Site Guide
  • Help

Hastings: "The Most Difficult Retail Environment We Have Ever Seen"

November 17, 2008
By Michael Cader

Hastings reported third quarter sales of $114 million, down six percent from a year ago. Leaving aside rental revenues, sales of merchandise were down 5.1 percent on a same-store sales basis. But books outperformed many of their other media categories, as “books comps increased 1 percent for the quarter, due to strong sales of new trade paperback as well as used trade paperback and used hardbacks, partially offset by lower sales of periodicals.”

The company swung from a slim profit this time last year to a net loss of $3.7 million for the quarter. (That loss includes a special $400,000 depreciation expense and an income tax expense of $700,000 related to an IRS audit.)

Hastings lowered their guidance for the fiscal year to earnings of between 50 and 55 cents a share (or about half of what they had been projecting), and cfo Dan Crow says they are “estimating our fourth quarter comp revenues to drop in the low to mid single digits which compares to our original estimate of an increase in the mid single digits.”

CEO John Marmaduke says in the release, “Beginning with September, changes in consumer spending have created the most difficult retail environment we have ever seen. In an effort to drive sales without the benefit of significant video releases, we were highly promotional during the month of October. Obviously we are concerned about the fourth quarter in light of the current economic climate.” He underscores, “we have an excellent credit facility with Bank of America in the amount of $100 million, which does not expire until August 2011 and provides us with sufficient working capital for the foreseeable future.”
Release

Filed Under: Booksellers, Earnings Reports, Free

sidebar

Primary Free Sidebar

Login


Forgot password
Quick Pass users click here to log in
Get Full Access
The publishing industry's essential daily read

Each Publishers Lunch Deluxe subscription includes full access to our searchable multi-year archive of industry news, a nightly email reporting 10 to 50 deal transactions, and our database of industry contacts, scripts, and posting privileges.

Learn More

RSS Automat

  • Supreme Court Declines to Review or Revise Landmark NYT v. Sullivan Libel Standard, Despite Clarence Thomas's Objection June 27, 2022 CNN
  • So Far, Books by Trump Aides Are Mostly...Losers June 23, 2022 Politico
  • Macmillan Nigeria Publisher Charged With Book Fraud June 21, 2022 The Herald
  • All The Exiting Agents Seem to Think ICM's Sale to CAA Will Get Approved Shortly by DOJ June 17, 2022 Deadline
  • Spotify Closes Findaway Acquisition: "Their technology will help propel Spotify into the rapidly growing audiobooks industry" June 17, 2022 Press Release
  • Australian Author John Hughes "Unintentionally" Plagiarized The Great Gatsby And Other Famous Works In His New Novel June 15, 2022 The Guardian
  • Hatewatch Reveals Identities of Anonymous White Nationalist Book Publishers June 14, 2022 Southern Poverty Law Center
  • UK's Emerald Group Sold to Cambridge Information Group June 10, 2022 Press Release
  • Neil Gorsuch Is Writing A Book for HarperCollins, Declares First Advance of $250,000; Coney Barrett Got $425,000 First Advance After Commission June 9, 2022 Disclosure Form
  • New York State Passes Freelance Isn't Free Act June 3, 2022 Authors Guild
© 2022 Publishers Lunch. All Rights Reserved.