Waterstone’s parent HMV reported sales for the first half of the fiscal year at the bookselling chain of 219.5 million pounds, down 2.4 percent overall, and declining 3.2 percent on a same-store basis. They had an operating loss of 9.9 million pounds, which is better than the loss of 12.9 million pounds a year go. In the best stiff-upper-lip tradition available, management insists that they are making “good progress on [the] turnaround at Waterstone’s.” At the same time HMV reminds investors that “the outcome of our full financial year will be largely determined by the next four weeks of the […]
Booksellers
The Barnes & Noble Paradox: Nook Sales, and Expenses, Continue to Grow As Book Sales Slide
Barnes & Noble reported second quarter results through the end of October this morning, with lower sales and bigger losses than analysts were expecting, even with promising execution of their growth strategies. While showing sales success in their digital and non-book business lines, the expenses of the company’s transition continue to weigh on their results. For the second time this year they increased their full-year loss projections, now saying that they will range from 75 cents to $1.15 a share, or 50 cents a share more than their last revised forecast in August. That news sent shares down sharply in […]
Comps Down 5.8 Percent at Books-a-Million
Books-A-Million reported sales for the third quarter of $104.8 million, down 5.5 percent overall, with same-store sales down 5.8 percent. Their net loss rose to $1.7 million, $100,000 larger than this time a year ago. Like other book retailers, they are reporting weakness in hardcovers (whether due to the economy, ebooks, or both) and strength in bargain books. CEO Clyde Anderson said in the release, “Comparable store sales for the third quarter were disappointing as we faced a tough comparison to last year’s bestseller lineup and a cost conscious consumer buying fewer hardcover books. We did see continued positive trends […]
Publishing Flat At Courier As They Take Another Writedown on Creative Homeowner Line; Hastings Keeps Selling Fewer New Books
Courier reported that both fourth quarter and full-year sales rose 3 percent, at $68.4 million and $257.1 million respectively, but weakness in the home improvement market led to yet another writedown at their Creative Homeowner publishing unit. They took a $4.7 million non-cash impairment charge due to “the systemic problems it currently faces in the home improvement market,” bringing fourth quarter net income down to $1.1 million. The publishing division had sales of $11.9 million in the fourth quarter, even with a year ago, as a 6 percent increase at Dover was negated by a 23 percent decline at Creative […]
Kobo Helps Indigo Grow Sales But Lose Money; Will Seek More Digital Investment
At Canada’s retailing giant Indigo, sales rose 3.7 percent to $214.8 million (CA) in their second quarter, even as superstore comps fell 0.7 percent and smaller-store comps dropped 4.8 percent. The company swung to a net loss of $1.7 million, compared to a profit of $2.2 million a year ago, disappointing analysts, who were looking for the company to break even on somewhat higher sales. As with Barnes & Noble, the digital transition is adding costs, even as the company likes their prospects. CEO Heather Reisman says in the release, “we are pleased with our top line revenue growth, particularly […]
Amazon Boosts Sales But Margins Suffer, Worrying Wall Street, and Media Sales Slow
Amazon reported yesterday that third quarter sales rose 39 percent to $7.56 billion, with net income of $231 million and operating income of $268 million, up 7 percent. While they beat analysts’ expectations, somewhat moderated after coming up short in the second quarter, operating margin looks to have fallen considerably, from 4.6 percent down to 3.5 percent. With earnings lagging sales growth throughout this fiscal year, the company’s shares were down sharply last night in the after-market, but investors reconsidered this morning and the stock is rising again. The press release “highlights” are almost all Kindle, so you have to […]