Google reported third quarter revenues after the close of the market on Thursday, and the company continues to show significant growth in the business segment that includes the Google Play Store. Called “other revenues” by the company (also including their hardware line and their Enterprise software business), the segment had sales of $1.84 billion in the quarter — up 50 percent from a year ago. Google said the segment growth came “mainly from the Play Store, but also complemented by an increase in licensing revenue.” In their investor call, they said: “Google Play’s growth continues to impress. It’s a linchpin […]
Booksellers
Books Sales Fall Again At WH Smith, As Profits Improve
WH Smith reported preliminary results for fiscal 2014, with sales at their High Street stores falling 6 percent to £684 million. Book sales overall fell more, down 8 percent for the year as the “market continues to be challenging” (after declining 6 percent in the previous year). Same-store sales were down 5 percent, but their cost savings program helped profit for the segment rise 4 percent to £58 million. The company notes: “While the eBooks market continues to see growth, it is evolving as we had expected with rates of growth and value penetration slowing. eBooks remain a relatively small […]
More Facts From Barnes & Noble’s Filings
As usual, Barnes & Noble’s formal quarterly report to the SEC includes some additional details of interest not included in Tuesday’s press release and investor call, though this time around those additional disclosures are pretty modest. In the most recent quarter, BN customers activated just $6.2 million of the credits available to them as part of the first portion of the ebook pricing litigation settlements. That ratifies the inference that a good portion of the $166 million in credits were used shortly after being made available in late March — since as of May 3 BN customers almost half of their […]
Barnes & Noble Has Soft Sales But Smaller Loss As Nook Fades; Asset Separation Presents New Possibilities
Sales fell more than expected by analysts at Barnes & Noble in their fiscal first quarter, ending August 2, down 7 percent to $1.236 billion, but the loss was lower than estimated — with a consolidated net loss of $28.4 million, or 56 cents a share. Tellingly, the company admitted in this morning’s release that their plans to separate the BN retail business from Nook Media has included discussions “with its Nook Media partners to potentially restructure existing agreements” and “with potential third-party partners.” As a result, “Such discussions could affect the structure and timing of the separation.” What that […]
A Tepid Second Quarter for Books-A-Million
Books-A-Million said sales for the second quarter ending August 2 more or less stayed flat, dipping 0.5 percent to $108.3 million. Same-store sales inched up a mere 0.1 percent, while their net loss of $3 million, or 21 cents per share was a considerable improvement on the $9.1 million net loss of a year ago. The quarterly results also include “higher income tax expense due to the recording of a non-cash valuation allowance and the reversal of previously recorded income tax benefits.” President and ceo Terrance Finley said in the release: “In our BAM! retail stores, the continued improvement in […]
Book Sales in Indigo Q1 Grew For First Time in Almost Five Years
Canada’s dominant bookseller Indigo reported fiscal first quarter (for the period ending June 28). Sales increased 5.4 percent, to $180.8 million CA, and the net loss of $14.0 million was an improvement upon the $20.9 million lost at the same time a year ago. Indigo largely attributed the quarter’s revenue growth to the launch of American Girl specialty boutiques (with “outstanding” customer response to the first two boutique stores) and the early timing of Easter, the company also noted that book sales grew “for the first time since fiscal 2010.” Same-store sales for the quarter were up 8.3 percent at […]