Books-A-Million reported third quarter results Tuesday afternoon, and for the fourth straight quarter sales rose — thanks to the dozens of stores they added after Borders closed — but same-store sales continued their pattern of declines as well, down 3.6 percent. Sales of $104.7 million were up 11 percent compared to a year ago, and their net loss of $2.8 million for the quarter was an improvement from the $3.8 million in losses a year earlier. BAMM ceo and president Terence Finley said the third quarter results “reflect stabilization in our core book business and improvements in our toys & […]
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People, Etc.
Rodale Books publisher Steve Perrine is leaving the company after more than 20 years along with Men’s Health editor-in-chief and general manager of Rodale Books and the Healthy Living Group Dave Zinczenko. The NY Post reports the two men “are said to be teaming up on a new venture” while ceo Maria Rodale told the paper Zinczenko’s departure “was a mutual decision, but we initiated the discussion.” Former literary agent at ICM Kate Lee has joined online publishing platform startup Medium as director of content in New York, where she will “be building a small team to help her.” They […]
Bookselling: That Bookstore in Blytheville Finds New Buyer; WHSmith High Street Comps Drop 5 Percent
Arkansas-based independent That Bookstore in Blytheville, which looked like it was going to close this week, has found a new buyer, Arkansas Business reports. Grant Hill told the paper he was “working with Southern Bancorp and the Greater Blytheville Area Chamber of Commerce to secure the $35,000 needed to buy the business” from owner Mary Gay Shipley, who put the store up for sale in February. Shipley confirmed the purchase, saying “We are getting to a contract and hope to be able to make an announcement soon.” In the UK, WHSmith said in a brief update that high street sales […]
Indigo Falls on Lower Book Sales and Delayed Devices
Canada’s dominant bookseller Indigo reported a 5.9 percent decrease in sales of $185.6 million for the fiscal second quarter. Though the company sold their stake in Kobo, they still blame “a delay in the planned launch of the new Kobo devices” as the primary cause of the revenue drop. They claim “book sales for the quarter were down only modestly” yet the superstores sales comps were down 6.5 percent, and small-format store comps fell 2.2 percent. Their operating loss of $5.9 million was much better than a year ago–but that’s because they had a major writedown against Kobo’s goodwill last […]
Amazon Reports Loss, With Soft Sales and Profit Projections
Amazon reported third quarter sales of $13.81 billion, up 27 percent from a year ago, but below analysts expectations. As forecast, they had a loss for the quarter, registering an operation loss of $28 million and a net loss of $274 million. $169 million of that loss was due to impairment charges against the unsuccessful LivingSocial investment. Guidance for the coming holiday quarter predicts a wide-ranging performance of anywhere between a loss of $490 million and profit of $310 million, and sales are forecast to grow between 16 percent and 31 percent. While those figures were lower than analysts had […]
Profit Declines at Bloomsbury, As Digital Comprises 15% of Adult Division Sales
Bloomsbury reported results for the six months ending August 31, with continuing pre-tax profits falling 40 percent to £0.9 million, even as sales rose 2 percent to £43.5 million. With recent acquisitions the academic and professional division now comprises 28 percent of company sales, though “academic sales peak at the beginning of the academic year, in September and October.” Sales at the adult division were flat (and down 5 percent before acquisitions), while children’s and educational sales fell 23 percent and operating profit in that segment disappeared, blamed on the comparison to last year’s Harry Potter sales tying in to […]