Amazon reported second quarter earnings after the close of the market Tuesday, and once again stuck to a script that has prevailed for a string of previous earnings reports: growing sales while producing very little income. The company reported revenues of $12.83 billion (up 29 percent, and taking into account unfavorable foreign exchanges that cost them $272 million in sales) and net income of just $7 million, down a big 96 percent (from $191 million) compared to a year ago. Some of the hit in profits came from a one-time estimated net loss of $65 million related to its acquisition of […]
Booksellers
Corporate: Amazon Publishing In Line To Buy Dorchester Publishing Assets; BN Annual Report Tidbits
Months after long-troubled Dorchester Publishing went into foreclosure with more than $2.9 million in outstanding debts to owner John Backe, it appears Amazon Publishing is in line to acquire the company’s backlist, contracts, and other intellectual property, according to a notice of public disposition issued on June 27 and first reported on by agent Richard Curtis. Potential bidders have until August 15 to submit competing offers and, should there be additional bidders, an auction will be held on August 28 at the offices of Garfunkel Wild in Great Neck, NY. Considering how long Dorchester’s assets have been up for grabs, […]
Sales Up, Losses Slimmer in Books-A-Million’s First Quarter
Books-A-Million reported first quarter earnings for the period ended April 28, and sales rose–up 10.5 percent (or $10.7 million)–to $113.1 million compared to a year ago, due to the expanded store base that now comprises 255 outlets. (Sales rose by about the same amount in the previous quarter as well.) It was also an easy comparison to what was a terrible first quarter a year ago, when sales had dropped from $117 million in early 2010. The company recorded a net loss of $1.9 million for the quarter, an improvement from the $3.4 million in losses a year ago (but […]
Amazon’s Margin of Under 1 Percent Beats Estimates, and Stock Rises
Amazon continues to grow sales and produce very little income, reporting revenues of $13.18 billion for their first quarter (up 34 percent) and net income of $130 million (down 35 percent). North American media sales of $2.197 billion were up 17 percent, and international media sales of $2.513 billion rose 21 percent. The press release leads by trumpeting having persuaded authors of 130,000 KDP titles to make their works exclusive to Amazon so that Prime members can borrow them for free. In the investor q&a Thursday night, cfo Thomas Szkutak reiterated of the recent DOJ action that “we do think […]
Book Sales Down 8 Percent at WH Smith, with 100 Kobo In-Store Shops Coming This Year
Book sales continue to decline at UK chain WH Smith, down 8 percent on a same-store-sales basis for the six months ending February 29. On their Kobo relationship, the company says “initial performance is encouraging and we plan to further develop the offer throughout this year,” without indicating any figures. High street store sales of 448 million pounds were down over 5 percent overall (by 25 million pounds) and 6 percent on a comp-store basis, but groupwide profit rose 3 million pounds. In a parallel announcement, Kobo explained that they will open 100 in-store boutiques within WH Smith high street […]
More Amazon News: The 2011 Letter to Shareholders
Amazon has filed ceo Jeff Bezos’s annual letter to shareholders with the SEC in advance of their annual meeting–for which the board heartily recommends that owners vote against a shareholder proposal “calling for certain disclosures regarding corporate political contribtions.” In this year’s letter, the KDP program is one of three innovations that Bezos underscores: “Invention comes in many forms and at many scales. The most radical and transformative of inventions are often those that empower others to unleash their creativity – to pursue their dreams. That’s a big part of what’s going on with Amazon Web Services, Fulfillment by Amazon, […]