Just after Germany’s biggest bookselling chain announced losses and an unspecified restructuring, French bookselling chain Fnac is in a similar position. The group says sales at their stores fell 5.4 percent in 2011 and they “expect annual current operating income to decrease by half,” citing “a severe decrease in popularity” of publications. They say “the worsening of the economic crisis over the last six months has led to a significant decrease in household spending in Europe, which is affecting Fnac’s markets in all of the countries in which it is present.” Fnac says they are working on an 80-million-euro cost […]
Earnings Reports
Bookselling: Thalia Admits Big Drop In Earnings; Random House Extends Free Shipping; Two Fall Regional Shows Merge
Germany’s largest bookstore chain Thalia is facing the same challenges as major booksellers in English-speaking countries, with parent company Dougles reducing their forecast EBITDA for the current fiscal year by a range of 15 to 30 percent, driving shares down sharply. The company warned that they will incur unspecified “expenditures for restructuring at Thalia” and blamed “the structural challenges in the entire books sector” for the earnings reduction. One German analyst told Bloomberg the company needs to make clear the restructuring costs and “and in general has to provide solutions and measures to get rid of the structural problems at […]
Barnes & Noble Reduces Expectations On Shortfall In Simple Touch Sales; A Sterling Sale Is Far Along
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, […]
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 […]
People: BN’s Astarita To Lead Rodale Digital Team
Anthony Astarita will join Rodale as svp, general manager for digital and brand development on January 3, according to the NYT. Astarita has been vp, general manager for e-commerce and digital products at Barnes & Noble for the past 3 years (helping to develop and market the Nook line of digital products) and joined the company in 1998. Rodale ceo and chairwoman Maria Rodale said in a statement that Astarita brought “a wealth of digital expertise and notable credibility to the ambitious digital efforts Rodale has set for 2012 and beyond. He’s poised to expand our global digital business to […]