It’s already another fascinating year for Barnes & Noble, which surprised Wall Street with a number of post-holiday announcements. The success of their Nook Tablet, “which has exceeded expectations,” came at some cost to their less expensive eInk device, “with a shortfall in the expected sales of NOOK Simple Touch.” They say “the company over-anticipated the growth in consumer demand for single purpose black-and-white reading devices this holiday.” Primarily as a result of that Simple Touch shortfall, BN reduced their guidance to investors, projecting fiscal year sales of between $7.0 billion and $7.2 billion, EBITDA of $150 to $180 million, […]
Booksellers
Some Good News from BN: Holiday Print Book Sales Comps Rose 4 Percent, The First Growth In 5 Years
Barnes & Noble also reported on holiday sales on Thursday, and there the news is at least somewhat better. Over the nine-week holiday period, superstore sales rose 2.5 percent, at $1.2 billion. Same-store sales rose 3.4 percent, which is a positive, though not as strong as last year’s comp gain of 9.7 percent. In good news for publishers, “book sales were strong overall, fueled by strength across multiple categories,” and “physical book sales on a comparable basis increased by 4 percent, exhibiting growth for the first time in five years. More broadly, “retail core” comparable sales, leaving out digital merchandise, […]
Briefs: Digital Accounted for 11 Percent of Random UK Overall Sales; Foyles Profits Up; And More
Random House UK chair and chief executive Gail Rebuck‘s annual letter to staff also went out Tuesday (too late for our dispatch) in which she revealed that ebook sales accounted for 11 percent of the group’s overall sales, and that 2011 would be regarded as a “time of significant digital-led change.” Forecasting 2012 Rebuck said that “increasingly, direct consumer engagement will play a pivotal role in our campaigns as online discoverability and recommendation become ever more crucial to the future success of our books.” Bookseller Foyles reported annual revenues of £22.8m for the year ending June 30, down slightly from […]
Nook Costs Keep Mounting As Barnes & Noble Misses Sales and Profit Expectations
Barnes & Noble announced second quarter earnings this morning, which we are going to look at from a few perspectives. From a Wall Street vantage point, this was a poor report. Sales were $90 million lower than analysts were expecting, and the company reported a 17-cent-per-share loss, while investors were anticipating a 3-cent-per-share gain. (The company also revealed that the preferred dividend to Liberty Media cost regular shareholders 6 cents a share this quarter.) After a big run-up over the past 15 trading days, investors are pounding Barnes & Noble’s stock again, down almost 20 percent in morning trading, back […]
Books-A-Million Sales and Profits Slide On Closing Underperforming Stores and Overall Expansion
Books-A-Million posted its third quarter earnings for the period ending October 29, with net sales dropping 8.1 percent to $94.4 million (from $102.7 million a year ago) and store comps falling 7.7 percent from the same time last year. The company suffered an operating loss of $8.1 million, compared to a loss of $2.9 million a year ago, and a net loss of $4 million, or 25 cents per diluted share. The losses included a one-time charge related to the closing of 21 underperforming stores and scheduled opening of 41 new locations throughout the month of November. The company now […]
Hastings Losses Widen As It Ventures Into Digital Territory
Hastings Entertainment reported results for its third quarter early Monday morning and the losses continue to mount. The company reported a net loss of $5.5 million (or 65 cents a share), considerably larger than the $3.1 million loss reported a year ago. Overall book comps decreased 4.5 percent for the quarter, affected by “a weaker slate of titles released during the current quarter and the increasing popularity of e-readers” as well as increased promotional pricing. Unlike previous years, Hastings did not break out specific comps for new versus used book sales for the quarter. During the third quarter Hastings also […]