Borders filed details on their new credit agreements with the SEC along with filing their formal quarterly report. They disclose that the new $90 million term loan carries a minimum interest rate of 14.75 percent. Additionally, Borders needs to raise at least $25 million from the sale of new stock shares by May 15, or else there will be a $10 million reserve against the borrowing base of that term loan. (Even with yesterday’s sharp rise in the stock, Borders still has a current total market cap of about $150 million.) Good old Pershing Square is protected in the case […]
Booksellers
Borders Finishes With A More Profitable Quarter, Even As Sales Fall Over 13%
With new financing in place, Borders also reported fourth quarter and full-year earnings. The company made $59.9 million (91 cents a share) from continuing operations in the final quarter, much improved from $28.9 million (48 cents a share) a year ago, though adjusted EBITDA fell from $132.6 million to $91.3 million. Their debt net of cash at the end of the quarter was $245 million, a $37.6 million reduction from a year ago. Comp-store sales were about as horrible as their holiday report indicated, down 14 percent in the Borders superstores, also declining 14.4 percent for the full year. Fourth […]
Comp Sales Down 6 Percent at BAMM
Fourth quarter sales at Books-A-Million fell 6 percent on a same-store basis and 4.6 percent overall at $157 million, but net income of $11.9 million was up more than 6 percent. For the full year sales of $509 million were down 1.3 percent, declining 3.8 on a same-store basis, and net income rose to $13.8 million. The board authorized another stock repurchasing program of up $5 million.
Profits Rise at Harlequin As Currency Holds Down Sales
Harlequin’s parent company Torstar reported that the publishing unit had fourth quarter sales of $122 million (CA), down three percent from last year, but EBITDA jumped to $21.7 million, almost 40 percent higher than the $15.6 million a year ago. (And yes, that gives them EBITDA margin of of 17.8 percent.) They say “underlying” sales rose $2.6 million, while the strengthening Canadian dollar cost them $6.6 million. For the full year, sales of $493 million were up 4.3 percent over the previous year. EBITDA for the year was $88.2 million, up 22 percent.Release
Barnes & Noble Reports Decent Earnings On Declining Sales
Barnes & Noble reported third quarter sales of $2.175 billion for the period ending January 10. Same-store sales at regular BN outlets were down 5.5 percent compared to a year, and fell 4.7 percent overall, at $1.4 billion. College bookstore sales of $566 million were down 1.3 percent. BN.com sales grew 32 percent to $210 million–and were up 67 percent in the month of January, driven by nook sales. (BN’s quarters no longer align following the integration of the College division, but last year in March store comps were down 7.3 percent–so they are underperforming an already-lowered bar.) During the […]
Bezos Admits to "Millions" of Kindles, As Amazon Grows 42 Percent
In reporting, Jeff Bezos finally mentioned something involving numbers with respect to Kindles, which are now owned by “millions of people.” And ratio of Kindle sales to print sales continues to grow: “when we have both editions, we sell 6 Kindle books for every 10 physical books.” Bezos even indicated specifically, “this is year-to-date and includes only paid books — free Kindle books would make the number even higher.” Amazon reported a huge fourth quarter, with sales of $9.52 billion, 42 percent higher than a year ago. Net income rose even more, up 71 percent at $384 million. North American […]