Reporting results for their first quarter ending May 1, in a still grim atmosphere for physical stores of all kinds, Borders sales fell 15.4 percent overall at $542 million. The loss from continuing operations of $64.5 million was better than a year ago, but the operating loss of $33.5 million was worse. Sales at the US stores fell further, down 16.1 percnent to $520–but same-store sales were down by only 11.4 percent company to a year ago. The company says that factoring out multimedia, which they theoretically pulled down dramatically years ago, comp store sales declined 6.8 percent, indicating less […]
Booksellers
Books-A-Million Comp Sales Down 3.6 Percent
Same-store sales fell 3.6 percent at Books-A-Million in their fiscal first quarter, ending May 1, as total sales of $117 million decline one percent. Net income of $2 million was just $100,000 lower than a year ago. CEO Clyde Anderson says, “While we continued to face a challenging sales environment during the period, I’m pleased that our ongoing discipline in cost control and inventory management delivered solid financial results.”Release
Sales Fall at Lagardere In First Quarter, As US Digital Books Hit 8 Percent
Sales at Lagardere Publishing of 433 million euros fell 6.5 percent in the first quarter (ending March 31), attributed to the “expected erosion” in sales of Stephenie Meyer books. Digital book sales, however, were “buoyant,” comprising “some 8 percent” of US revenues in the first quarter. The company says that “the current pace of growth in digital books – in particular with the arrival of the iPad” could wind up having “a very slightly positive effect” on their full-year earnings. In the short term, the publication of Meyer’s novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner on June 5 “is […]
Waterstone's Same-Store Decline "Improves" to -4.8 Percent
In a preliminary report of annual results, Waterstone’s parent HMW is claiming that bookstore sales are improving, with same-store sales for the 16-weeks ending April 24 down 4.8 percent–which is indeed better than the full-year same-store decline of 6.2 percent, and also an improvement over the poor Christmas holiday comp decline of 8.9 percent. Overall bookstore sales for the year are down 6 percent as well. It’s the second straight annual decline for the chain. Though they did not report actual figures today, based on last year’s numbers, sales will be down to approximately 515 million pounds for the year. […]
Amazon Posts $7 Billion Quarter, But Low Guidance Worries Market
Amazon reported first quarter sales after the close of the market yesterday of $7.13 billion, up a sizable 46 percent from a year ago and ahead of consensus expectations by over $140 million. Net income of $299 million increased even more, by 68 percent (at 66 cents a share also well above estimates of 61 cents a share). North American media sales were up a mere 22 percent, at $1.597 billion, now well exceeded by international media sales, which rose 29 percent to $1.833 billion. Growth in electronics is really driving the company’s overall gains. The Kindle store now officially […]
Sales Fall 4 Percent at WH Smith; Publishing Remains Soft for Courier
The UK’s WH Smith reported results for the six months ending February 28, with high street sales of 503 million pounds down 4 percent, both in absolute terms and on a comp-store basis. Books as a category were also down 4 percent compared to a year ago. The company says “the books market was soft during the key Christmas period, but performance varied by sub-category with the poor publishing schedule in non-fiction acting as a key driver behind the market decline.” Nonetheless, they insist that “we continue to implement our strategy to build on our authority as a popular book […]