Holiday sales at Books-a-Million totaled $122.1 million for the nine-week period, down 4.5 percent overall, and down 6.2 percent on a same-store basis. For 11 months of their fiscal year, total sales are down 1 percent at $473.6 million, with comp sales declining 3.7 percent. CEO Clyde Anderson noted that “as was the case last year, customers shopped late in the season and proved to be value conscious responding well to our marketing efforts, bargain book department and in-store promotions.”Release
Earnings Reports
Barnes & Noble Holiday Comps Down 5.4%; Earnings Guidance Reduced
The nine-week holiday selling period at Barnes & Noble was another rough one, with same-store sales down 5.4 percent at $1.1 billion (and bear in mind that the comps a year ago were down 7 percent from 2007). Sales at BN.com rose 17 percent however, at $134 million, in large part because of nook revenues recognized in that period. (BN.com had sales of $114 million in the same period a year ago. When the company reported second quarter earnings in late November, BN.com was up 9 percent for the period. So figure that recognized nook revenues are roughly between $10 […]
At Scholastic, Trade Slides As Education Rises
Sales at Scholastic in their second quarter nudged up 1 percent to $660 million, as operating income fell $2.4 million to $105.6 million. Earnings would have been up sharply, except the company took $40 million in mostly non-cash writedowns. There was a $36.3 million charge from their “decision to consolidate supplemental non-fiction and library publishing activities into the children’s book segment” and another $3.8 million charge “related to assets received in connection with the dissolution of a joint venture in the United Kingdom.” Trade book sales fell 4.5 percent, at $49.6 million for the quarter. Their school book clubs showed […]
Sales at Waterstone's Are "Weak"
Similar to the performance of the big US booksellers, the UK’s Waterstone’s “performance remains weak” according to parent company HMV, though “the recent administration of Borders UK may benefit the Group in the medium and long term.” Or not, since they admit to “continued market share gains by supermarket and online competitors.” For the first half of the fiscal year, sales of 225 million pounds were down 4.3 percent compared to a year ago, but down 5.1 percent on a same-store basis. And that was with sales growth from “related product ranges, such as gift stationery and technology, including the […]
Wiley Reverses Trend As Sales Grow, and Professional/Trade Rebounds
Wiley reversed three straight quarters of overall declines (and five consecutive quarters of declines in their professional/trade segment) as sales rose 4 percent to $448 million and operating profit (before a one-time charge) rose 7 percent, to $75.3 million. A small one percent drop in their big STM division, at $251 million, was more than made up for by a 14 percent gain in higher ed, at $77 million, and in the the professional/trade line, which rose 9 percent to $120 million. Trade “sales growth was strongest in the US, UK, Germany, and Australia” and major accounts are ordering again […]
BN Warns On Low Store Traffic and Higher Nook Costs
Barnes & Noble reported that store sales fell 2 percent to $950 million in their second quarter, with same-store sales down 3.2 percent (the smallest comp decline in the past six quarters, believe it or not). BN.com sales rose 9 percent at $120 million, and College sales for a one-month period only of $65 million were down 0.2 percent on a same-store basis. They reported a lost of $24 million, or 43 cents a share–with 30 cents of operating loss and 13 cents attributed to the College acquisition. Worrisome to both Wall Street and the trade, BN warned that they […]