Barnes & Noble Education issued its first quarterly report as an independent company — though this one doesn’t really count, since it covers results through August 1, and BNED became a separate entity the following day, on August 2. First quarter sales of $239 million rose $13 million, or 5.9 percent, compared to a year ago, but they had a bigger EBITDA loss of -$35.2 million ($1.2 million more than a year ago), “due primarily to higher expenses associated with new store growth in the non-rush first quarter and continued investments in digital education.” They have been steadily sinking money into their […]
Earnings Reports
Barnes & Noble Has Soft Sales, Bigger Loss, and Sharply Falling Stock
Barnes & Noble reported fiscal 2016 first quarter sales, through August 1, on Wednesday morning. Even with the high-profile summer releases, sales at the retail bookstores declined $16 million (or 1.7 percent) to $939 million for the quarter. “Core” Nook-free sales inched up 1 percent, and same-store sales rose 1.1 percent. But don’t infer that means they sold more books. “Comparable sales in books slightly declined,” the company said in their investor conference call, with toys and games still the growth star for the company, up 17.5 percent in the quarter. In the release, the company blamed the modest decline on “store closures, […]
Strong Dollar Lifts Penguin Random House; Buyout Talk Turns to Partial Sale
Bertelsmann reported results for the first half of 2015 from Germany on Monday morning, with the strong dollar powering topline gains at Penguin Random House. Sales of €1.697 billion were up 236 million euros compared to a year, and EBITDA of €207 million was €48 million higher than a year ago, both “mainly due to exchange rate effects.” (These totals include the separate Random House Germany, which was “near-stable” in the period. For all of 2014, RHG had sales of €279 million.) This reporting period also includes the incorporation of Santillana’s trade publishing lines (where were acquired on July 1, 2014), where […]
Another Weak Year for Faber; A Weak RCS Waits A Little Longer to Close Mondadori Deal
UK independent publisher Faber has reported a second consecutive year of poor results. Reporting on a delayed basis — the latest figures are for the 12 months ending March 2015 — sales fell 1.8 percent to £15.9 million and the company recorded a significant operating loss of £813,000. That loss includes a “substantial one-off restructuring cost.” The company eliminated eight jobs in March. In the prior year, sales had fallen 18 percent to £16.26 million, and earnings went from more than £2 million to just below even. CEO Stephen Page tells The Bookseller, “Our view is that we have to be careful about what we publish […]
WATCHMAN and GREY Can’t Save Books A Million From Another Tepid Second Quarter
Books-A-Million said sales for the second quarter ending August 1 dipped 0.4 percent to $107.9 million. Same-store sales dropped 0.3 percent, while their net loss of $5.8 million, or 41 cents per share, nearly doubled compared to a $3 million net loss a year ago. The quarterly results also include “higher income tax expense due to the recording of a non-cash valuation allowance and the reversal of previously recorded income tax benefits.” President and ceo Terrance Finley admitted in the release that the “phenomenal sales” of Harper Lee’s GO SET A WATCHMAN — which he had earlier categorized as the fastest-selling […]
Perseus Builds to Higher Sales
Perseus Books Group ceo David Steinberger dispatched his annual letter to employees after the June 30 close of their fiscal year earlier than usual, noting: “In reflecting back on last year though, the real place to start is August 7th 2014, when we announced the Hachette transaction would not go forward.” Though “it was inevitably a distracting time,” Steinberger says that “our people and our company moved forward with our signature resolve,” reporting that, “In fact, this year our in-house and client publishers combined to generate higher total sales than in any year in our history.” In particular, “Our client service business […]