Sales at Scholastic rose 2 percent in their second quarter, at $675.7 million, up 2% from $660.1 million a year ago. Earnings from continuing operations before taxes were $124.3 million, up 22 percent–except that the company took a large writedown this time last year. Trade publishing sales of $53.4 million rose 8 percent compared to a year ago. Overall, “results were below our plan, reflecting lower spending by school districts and lower than expected revenue in clubs.” The company said they had “lower sales of educational technology relative to a year ago, as well as higher promotion spending in School […]
Earnings Reports
After Another Terrible Quarter, Borders Warns of New Liquidity Threat
Borders reported third-quarter results after the close of the market on Thursday, and their report card is as dreadful as many feared. They are losing even more money than before and sales continue to fall at alarming rates. As part of the report, they also warn of another looming liquidity threat. The company is forced again to look for “replacement financing,” following the continuing losses and a low third-party “estimated liquidation value of our inventory” (which is their primary asset, and affects how much they can borrow.) If they can’t find a solution, they warn they could be in violation […]
Waterstone’s Remains Rosy On Neverending “Turnaround” As Comps Still Fall
Waterstone’s parent HMV reported sales for the first half of the fiscal year at the bookselling chain of 219.5 million pounds, down 2.4 percent overall, and declining 3.2 percent on a same-store basis. They had an operating loss of 9.9 million pounds, which is better than the loss of 12.9 million pounds a year go. In the best stiff-upper-lip tradition available, management insists that they are making “good progress on [the] turnaround at Waterstone’s.” At the same time HMV reminds investors that “the outcome of our full financial year will be largely determined by the next four weeks of the […]
Consumer Sales Fall As Wiley Stays Almost Flat Overall
Sales at John Wiley fell one percent in their second quarter, to $442 million, and operating income of $78 million is technically ahead of this time last year–but only because of last year’s $11 million writedown related to GIT Verlag. Absent that charge, income fell 10 percent, “due to top-line results and increased investment in digital products and support systems to support future business growth.” The professional/trade division was “soft,” particularly “compared with a strong second quarter last year. Low traffic and sell-through at some retail accounts contributed to these results. eBook sales continue to grow, more than doubling over […]
The Barnes & Noble Paradox: Nook Sales, and Expenses, Continue to Grow As Book Sales Slide
Barnes & Noble reported second quarter results through the end of October this morning, with lower sales and bigger losses than analysts were expecting, even with promising execution of their growth strategies. While showing sales success in their digital and non-book business lines, the expenses of the company’s transition continue to weigh on their results. For the second time this year they increased their full-year loss projections, now saying that they will range from 75 cents to $1.15 a share, or 50 cents a share more than their last revised forecast in August. That news sent shares down sharply in […]
Comps Down 5.8 Percent at Books-a-Million
Books-A-Million reported sales for the third quarter of $104.8 million, down 5.5 percent overall, with same-store sales down 5.8 percent. Their net loss rose to $1.7 million, $100,000 larger than this time a year ago. Like other book retailers, they are reporting weakness in hardcovers (whether due to the economy, ebooks, or both) and strength in bargain books. CEO Clyde Anderson said in the release, “Comparable store sales for the third quarter were disappointing as we faced a tough comparison to last year’s bestseller lineup and a cost conscious consumer buying fewer hardcover books. We did see continued positive trends […]