Barnes & Noble Education reported results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended April 30, and restated the results of fiscal year 2021, due to “certain out of period adjustments related primarily to income tax benefit, and restructuring and other charges.” Those adjustments increased the fiscal year 2021 net loss by $8 million. The company finished the fiscal year by doing less worse than before: Sales for Q4 2022 were $261 million, up 17 percent from the revised $223 million last year. But that’s still well below the pre-pandemic level, which saw sales of $334 million in Q4 2019. […]
Booksellers
WH Smith Rebounds Overall, But High Street Sales Are Weak
UK book retailer WH Smith reported a brief trading update for the third quarter, the 15 weeks ended June 11. The company is still comparing their results to those of 2019, with overall group sales at 107 percent of the same period in 2019 lifted by a surge in travel—the first time the company has risen above pre-pandemic numbers. But High Street sales remain weak, at 79 percent of 2019’s level, including “the impact from the cyber incident on [online gift and greeting card business] Funky Pigeon,” down 7 percent from the same period last year. High street sales have […]
Indigo Exceeds $1 Billion In Sales, Returns to Profitability
Indigo reported fourth quarter and full-year results on Friday for the period ended April 2. They closed the year with their best fourth quarter sales ever, which lifted full-year sales to $1.06 billion – a new all-time high, and the first time above $1 billion since 2019 (when sales were $1.05 billion). Fourth quarter sales were CA$221 million, up 10.9 percent from $199 million during the same period last year, driven by “strong omnichannel sales” and “improved pricing strategies.” The net loss for the quarter was $23.4 million, $16.1 million less than last year. Those full year sales of $1.06 […]
Steep Drop in Booktopia Earnings; Founder Nash to Step Down
Australia’s online bookseller Booktopia released a trading update for the quarter ending March 31 showing slower growth and a big drop in earnings, accompanied by an announcement that co-founder Tony Nash will step down as ceo once a replacement is found. Sales of $64.5 million AU were down 1% compared to last year, “due to the disrupted start to the academic year.” EBITDA fell 65 percent to $1.5 million, due to increased operating expenses at its distribution center and the lower academic book sales. “Whilst the company is pleased to see revenues continue to grow and expects that to continue, […]
WH Smith’s High Street Sales Flat While Travel Recovered
UK retailer WH Smith reported six-month results for the period ended February 28. Sales at their High Street bookstores remained flat at the historically low level of £270 million, which had been down (14) percent a year ago compared to before the pandemic, when sales were £315 million (and that period, in turn, was down from £333 million as of February 2019). High Street trading profit was £35 million, up slightly from £33 million last year. The company said, “Our High Street business delivered a resilient and profitable performance in the period, despite the challenges facing the UK high street…and […]
Waterstones Sales Fell 38.5 Percent In Pandemic Year
Waterstones filed their annual report for the fiscal year ending a year ago, as of April 24, 2021, revealing a substantial decline in sales. The company reached sales of only £231 million in the year, down £135 million (or 38.5 percent) from £376 million in the prior year. Operating profit was £13 million (versus £30 million the year before) and profit before tax was £4.17 million (versus £23 million the year before). Those positive margins seem to have come from substantial government support — roughly £41 million during the reported period — and a reduction in force, with the average […]