If you want to feel better about the Barnes & Noble retail stores, look no further than the consistent underperformance of Barnes & Noble Education — which was always supposed to be the growth side of the business, except that it keeps declining. Fourth quarter sales were below even the reduced guidance from March: Revenue of $334.4 million decreased $23 million, or 6.5 percent compared, compared to a year ago. They had a net loss of $(46.2) million in the quarter — driven by a non-cash loss of $(57.8) million, primarily due to goodwill impairment on their retail and wholesale […]
Booksellers
Barnes & Noble Store Comps Down 2.3 Percent In Fourth Quarter
Barnes & Noble reported on June 19 what may be its last quarterly earnings statement in its waning days as a public company, and the numbers held few surprises. For the fourth quarter, sales were $755 million, down $31 million from a year ago, with same-store sales declining 2.3 percent. The net loss was $18.7 million, a slight improvement over a loss of $21 million last Q4. Consolidated EBITDA, which excludes one-time charges, was $4.6 million in the fourth quarter, compared to $6.7 million a year ago. For the year, sales were $3.553 billion, from $3.662 billion in 2018. Net […]
Indigo Shows A Loss and Declining Sales in Final Quarter and Fiscal Year
As we told you was expected when correcting the NYT’s appraisal of how Indigo is “reinventing bookselling,” the company reported a poor fourth quarter to end a difficult fiscal year on May 28. For the fourth quarter ending March 31, sales of $199 million (CA) were $16.2 million lower, with same-store sales falling 8.7 percent (affected in part by the timing of Easter). The seasonal net loss for the quarter was ($23.8 million), compared to a loss of ($10.7 million) a year ago. For the full year, sales of $1.047 billion were down $32.8 million, or 3 percent. Overall same-store […]
Amazon Doubles Net Income, Moves Toward Free One-Day Shipping
Amazon announced Q1 earnings last night, reporting that net income had more than doubled, to $3.6 billion compared to $1.6 billion in the period a year earlier. But cfo Brian Olsavsky warned investors not to expect similar performance in Q2, as the company expects margin growth to decline when it spends around $800 million in the quarter to evolve toward one-day shipping for all Prime members, starting in North America and eventually globally. The stock was trading near flat Friday morning on the reduced profit guidance. While profit was up, sales growth continued to slow, in line with analysts’ expectations. […]
WH Smith to Retool Stores for Kids and Lighter Readers
UK retailer WH Smith released its interim report for the six months ended February 28, 2019, including plans for updates to its High Street store inventory. Total group revenue of £695 million was up 8 percent, with High Street sales — where most of their book sales occur — at £331 million, down £4 million from a year ago. High Street trading profit was £48 million, down £2 million from a year ago. They took a £7 million restructuring charge in the segment, following “a detailed review” that includes closing “around 6 High Street stores.” High Street comp store sales […]
As Hudson Group Grows, Media Sales Continue to Slide
The Hudson Group, the travel retailer and bookstore, released Q4 and full-year 2018 earnings, as well as their first annual report since going public in February 2018. Book sales are registered in a breakout of “literature and publications,” with that segment declining slightly in the three years of data provided, as “confectionary, food, and catering” grew commensurately. Literature and publications comprised 9 percent of company sales in 2018, or $167 million, declining from $176 million and $193 million in 2017 and 2016 respectively. In 2016, literature and publications were almost 12 percent of sales. Meanwhile, the company opened a new […]