In other financial news, sales at Hastings fell 1.7 percent in the third quarter, at $112.3 million, with the company showing a net loss of $3.4 million–at -36 cents a share that was well below what the company’s single analyst was forecasting, and $0.7 million worse than Hasting’s own internal forecast. As a result, they formally reduced their guidance on full-year earnings by five cents a share. According to the company’s category breakouts, book sales comps were just above flat at 0.2 percent for the quarter (also up 1 percent for the year), but publishers probably don’t benefit from the […]
Finance
Burkle Doubles Barnes & Noble Stake; May Agitate for Change
There could be a battle of the billionaires brewing at Barnes & Noble, as companies controlled by investor Ron Burkle disclosed to the SEC that they have more than doubled their stake in the bookseller recently. Burkle’s companies now control 16.8 percent of the bookseller’s stock. That’s still only about half as much as the big block of stock controlled by chairman Len Riggio. Burkle’s recent purchases likely played a role in the recent upturn in BN’s stock, which lifted after reporting strong pre-orders for the nook. (Traders had been betting against BN, holding a lot of stock shorts that […]
Cengage Sues Houghton Over College Sale, Saying they Pumped Market with Cheap Books
Cengage Learning filed suit against Houghton Miffln Harcourt in a Manhattan Federal Court, seeking at least $20 million and alleging breach of warranty, misrepresentation and bad faith. They allege that Houghton pumped inexpensive college textbooks to international buyers with “known propensities to redistribute these textbooks back into the U.S. market through unauthorized distribution channels” prior to the sale of the division. They complain that those sales inhibited Cengage’s ability to sell to legitimate international distributors and poisoned the US market as those companies redistributed the cheap copies back into the home market. Cengage claims HMH agreed “to not behave ‘outside […]
Sales Still Down at Bertelsmann
In a short (and general) third-quarter trading update, Bertelsmann says that its “strict cost discipline is producing positive fiscal developments.” Sales fell 4.5 percent of 3.6 billion euros, as net income improved to 87 million euros (up from just 15 million euros a year ago). For the the first nine months of their fiscal year, sales are down 6.6 percent and operating EBIT has declined almost 19 percent. No divisional figures were provided.Statement
Borders to Slash Another 200 Walden Outlets in January
With competitor Barnes & Noble preparing to close all but the last two of their B. Dalton mall stores by January, Borders announced after yesterday that they will close approximately 200 of the remaining mall-based Waldenbooks outlets in January. The move will leave Borders with about 130 mall-based locations remaining. The company estimates that 1,500 jobs–mostly part-time–will be eliminated as a result. CEO Ron Marshall says, “We believe there remains an opportunity to profitably operate a much smaller Waldenbooks segment that complements our core Borders superstore business and continues to serve readers in their communities. Through this right-sizing, we will […]
Bookselling: Borders Will Ship It If They Don't Have It; Leading Australian Chains May Go Public
We’ve always wondered why any (and every) bookstore–chain or indie–doesn’t offer to ship you for free any book that is not in stock. After all, in an internet-everywhere age, customers know they can go to any browser and accomplish the same thing. But Borders appears to be the first to figure this out, announcing today a “promise to customers that if they do not find an item in stock in a Borders store, and that item is among the more than one million titles available on Borders.com, Borders will find it and pay the shipping costs to the customer’s home.” […]