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 […]
Booksellers
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, […]
Losses Mount For Hastings, Tablet Sales Boost Book Comps
Hastings Entertainment reported fourth quarter and full year results Monday morning and the losses continue to mount. For the quarter, the company reported a net loss of $8.4 million (or 1 dollar a share), considerably worse than the $3.8 million in profit reported a year ago, with an overall loss of $17.6 million for the year. Overall book comps actually increased 2.4 percent for the quarter, “primarily due to sales of the Nextbook Premium 7 e-reader tablet and related accessories” and an uptick in trade paperback sales that offset continuing sales declines in new mass market books and used hardbacks. […]
Holiday Comps Decline Yet Again at Books-a-Million
Books-a-Million reported yet another weak holiday quarter, with same-store sales down 5.7 percent (compared to an ever lower-bar). Sales rose 10.7 percent, to $166.9 million, based on the net addition of 20 stores. While Barnes & Noble had one of their best holiday sales seasons in years, BAM has had at least six consecutive years of negative comps in the quarter. Net income from continuing operations was $7.6 million, up $0.9 million compared to a year ago–but they incurred costs for the quarter of $1.6 million related to the closing of 21 underperforming locations and the opening of 41 new […]