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 […]
Earnings Reports
Sales Rise At Scholastic
Sales rose 3 percent at Scholastic, at $685.3 million, as net income of $82.8 million was up $7.9 million, or more than 10 percent. The company said “improved profits reflected higher sales of educational technology and services, children’s books and ebooks, and classroom and supplemental educational materials.” Children’s trade book sales of $68.8 million were up sharply from $53.3 million a year ago–making up for declines in the larger book clubs and book fairs units. Overall the children’s book publishing and distribution division was up slightly, with operating margin of $108.6 million up 11.5 percent. CEO Dick Robinson says in […]
Earnings Suffer At Wiley, On “Slowdown In Education”
Wiley’s net income of $50.7 million was down over 5 percent in their fiscal second quarter, falling more than sales, which declined less than 1 percent, at $447 million. The company lowered their sales guidance for the year, from mid-single-digit growth to low-single-digit-growth, while keeping their earnings forecast the same. It’s “the slowdown in education [that] continued to weigh on overall results,” ceo Stephen Smith said in the release. On the reduced earnings, the company cited “technology spending to support investments in digital products and infrastructure and facility costs related to consolidation of operations.” The professional/trade division “continues to perform […]
Nook Costs Keep Mounting As Barnes & Noble Misses Sales and Profit Expectations
Barnes & Noble announced second quarter earnings this morning, which we are going to look at from a few perspectives. From a Wall Street vantage point, this was a poor report. Sales were $90 million lower than analysts were expecting, and the company reported a 17-cent-per-share loss, while investors were anticipating a 3-cent-per-share gain. (The company also revealed that the preferred dividend to Liberty Media cost regular shareholders 6 cents a share this quarter.) After a big run-up over the past 15 trading days, investors are pounding Barnes & Noble’s stock again, down almost 20 percent in morning trading, back […]
Books-A-Million Sales and Profits Slide On Closing Underperforming Stores and Overall Expansion
Books-A-Million posted its third quarter earnings for the period ending October 29, with net sales dropping 8.1 percent to $94.4 million (from $102.7 million a year ago) and store comps falling 7.7 percent from the same time last year. The company suffered an operating loss of $8.1 million, compared to a loss of $2.9 million a year ago, and a net loss of $4 million, or 25 cents per diluted share. The losses included a one-time charge related to the closing of 21 underperforming stores and scheduled opening of 41 new locations throughout the month of November. The company now […]
Hastings Losses Widen As It Ventures Into Digital Territory
Hastings Entertainment reported results for its third quarter early Monday morning and the losses continue to mount. The company reported a net loss of $5.5 million (or 65 cents a share), considerably larger than the $3.1 million loss reported a year ago. Overall book comps decreased 4.5 percent for the quarter, affected by “a weaker slate of titles released during the current quarter and the increasing popularity of e-readers” as well as increased promotional pricing. Unlike previous years, Hastings did not break out specific comps for new versus used book sales for the quarter. During the third quarter Hastings also […]