Barnes & Noble followed up their weak second quarter sales report with some improvement over the following 9-week holiday sales period (through December 28): Same-store sales at the BN superstores and BN.com declined 6.6 percent overall, and 5.5 percent on a comparable-sales basis, at $1.1 billion. But nearly all of the retail decline was due to weaker sales of Nook devices and accessories; “core” store sales were “essentially flat”, down 0.2 percent compared to last year. General book sales probably declined more, since the company points to “strong increases in our juvenile, gift and toys & games categories.” But the […]
Booksellers
Yet Another Weak Quarter for Books-A-Million
Hours after Barnes & Noble reported their second quarter financial results, Books-A-Million did the same Tuesday afternoon for its third quarter following the close of the market. Sales for the quarter ending November 2 fell 3.5 percent to $100.5 million. Same-store sales declined further, down 9.2 percent — and they had another big net loss of $7.1 million, or 47 cents per share (compared to a loss of $2.7 million a year ago). CEO Terrance Finley said in the release: “Our third quarter results are an improvement over the very difficult comparisons in the first half of the year. Comparable […]
Earnings Reports: Hastings, Courier, and Osprey
Hastings reported third quarter sales of $94.7 million, down 6.6 percent, with 10 fewer superstores than the same period a year ago. Book sales declined 11.7 percent in the quarter, which the company blamed on “a weaker release schedule for new books and a decrease in trade paperback sales,” particularly given the effect of Fifty Shades a year ago as well as (when sales were only 1.4 percent in the same quarter). Books are down 11.8 percent for the year so far as well. At Courier Corporation, fourth-quarter sales rose 9 percent to $84 million and net income rose as […]
Sales Fall At Indigo, Which Suspends Dividend to Drive Store Renovations
Canada’s Indigo reported sales of $179 million for their fiscal second quarter (ending September 28), down 3.3 percent overall, and a bigger net loss of $10 million, compared to $4 million a year ago. Same-store superstore sales were down 2.8 percent, while comps at their smaller-format stores declined 8.2 percent. Modest online sales of $18.7 million were $600,000 higher than a year ago. The company says it is happily undergoing to a transition to a broader type of retailer. CEO Heather Reisman tells shareholders, “We have developed a bold vision to become a booklovers’ lifestyle company — optimizing our core […]
Once Again Amazon Sales Grow On Modest Loss — And Shares Take Off
Amazon reported third quarter sales after the close of the market on Thursday that were consistent with the company’s recent pattern, growing sales significantly and continuing to lose a little bit of money along the way. With shares already trading near record levels, the stock was buoyant in after-market trading Thursday and on Friday morning it was up roughly 10 percent, at a new all-time high of approximately $365 a share. As usual, internet-fueled theories that minor changes in shipping charges were related to some extraordinary impairment to the company’s p&l were completely wrong. Sales grew 24 percent to $17.1 […]
Barnes & Noble Postpones International Rollout Again
Barnes & Noble’s promised international expansion of Nook stores has been quietly postponed again. The last time the company delayed their timeline was in late July, in their delayed annual SEC report, which stated, “the company now expects expansion into these 10 markets to be accomplished by the end of 2013.” Now their new SEC report for the first quarter of fiscal 2014 pushes that target forward another 4 months, saying “it now expects expansion into these 10 markets to be accomplished by the end of fiscal 2014.” As a result of the continued delays, they may face a financial penalty […]