The UK’s WH Smith presented weak sales data that people are working hard to put a positive gloss on. Same-store sales at their High Street stores were down 7 percent for the eight weeks ending January 22 (so holiday sales, sort of) and down 6 percent for the most recent 21 weeks. The company says that “excluding entertainment” product, same-store sales were down 3 three percent. They say they are “rebalancing” their store mix to focus books, stationery and candy. The Bookseller says retail analysts were told once you isolate book sales, they fell 2 percent on a same-store basis […]
Earnings Reports
Courier’s Results Slide, But Profit Forecast Is Raised On “Positive Currents”
Sales at the book publishing unit at Courier fell 7 percent in their fiscal first quarter, ending December 25, at $10.8 million, but ceo James Conway III says “there were positive currents at work” and they “look forward to a stronger spring throughout the segment.” After a long decline due to the housing recession, Creative Homeowner sales rose 7 percent, and Dover increased online sales even while declining 3 percent overall. Courier’s larger printing business also declined–but with increases in their digital printing, the company increased full-year profit expectations anyway by five cents a share. Overall, sales for the quarter […]
Pearson Raises Earnings Guidance Again, Promises “Record Results” for Penguin
Pearson issued a brief trading update ahead of February’s full report of earnings for the year, raising their profit guidance yet again, to 76 pence per share (up from 72 pence per share), which took the stock to a new high. Even with the end-of-year Borders surprise, they say that Penguin “performed strongly in our key trading season and will report record results despite tough conditions in the physical book retail market.” Overall profits of 850 million pounds are expected to be up 20 percent over last year, “fuelled by [their] consistent investment in the global learning industry, in digital […]
BN December Store Comps Were Up Almost 13%; BN.com Gains 67 Percent Over Holidays
As promised, Barnes & Noble released a somewhat more detailed report on holiday sales this morning for the nine-week period ending January 1. The company’s bookstores had their “best [holiday] comparable store sales performance in more than a decade,” up 9.7 percent on a same-store basis and 8.2 percent overall. For December alone, comp sales rose even more, at 12.8 percent. While Nook devices accounted for much of the increase, the company says “physical book sales, especially hardcover books, were better than expected,” and their expanded toys & games department increased sales by 48 percent. Total holiday store sales were […]
Waterstone’s Parent HMV Reports Terrible Holiday Following UK Snow
Snowstorms in the UK dampened holiday sales at many outlets, and the HMV was the first of the big retailers to warn markets. Their Waterstone’s unit did well on a relative basis, with same-store sales for the 10-week holiday period declining 2.1 percent. (As we noted in December, Waterstone’s comps were down 3.2 percent for the first six months of the year, and the chain has been in “turnaround” mode since at least 2005.) HMV stores fared far worse, falling 13.6 percent on a same-store basis, and 11.9 percent overall in the 10-week period. HMV warned markets that it will […]
Nooks Drive Better-than-Expected Holiday Increase at Barnes & Noble Stores
Barnes & Noble issued a brief preliminary report on bookstore sales for the nine-week holiday period, saying that comparable store sales rose 9.7 percent through January 1. Results were driven by the the Nook reading devices, with BN saying they had the largest single day of store sales in the company’s history on December 23. They will report more details on January 6, when we may get a better glimpse of how book sales held up. Most notable about today’s report is that results were ahead of the company’s own forecast at the end of November, when they told analysts […]