With 10 days to go until majority stakeholder Pershing Square Capital Management decides whether Borders should finally make good on the $42.5 million loan that’s already been renegotiated three times before, expect to see a lot more speculation from analysts and journalists about the book retailer’s ability to survive. One analyst, Lou Kasman of Marketing/Management Associates LLC, told AnnArbor.com “I don’t see strong cash flow, so meeting debt is questionable. Whether the lenders will change payment requirements is the question.” Turnaround consultant Jim McTevia is much more blunt: “Borders is a classic example of a company that is struggling for […]
Kindle for iPad on the Way, But Not In Time for Launch; More on B&N iPad app
Amazon gave the NYT a sneak preview of its Kindle-for-iPad app, which touts “two new ways for people to view their entire e-book collection, including one view where large images of book covers are set against a backdrop of a silhouetted figure reading under a tree.” Screenshots are available at Amazon’s website, but the app, which also “allows readers to slowly turn pages with their fingers”, will not be available in time for the iPad April 3 launch date because Amazon hasn’t been able to test it on a real device. Instead, according to VP for Kindle Ian Freed, Amazon […]
Q4, Full-Year Earnings Up at Hastings, but Book Comps Dip
Hastings Entertainment reported an increase in fourth-quarter earnings, with a net income of $9.1 million or $0.94 per share, compared to $4.1 million or $.41 per share in the corresponding period one year earlier. Total revenue for the quarter climbed 5.5 percent to $176.1 million, from $166.9 million a year earlier. For the twelve-month period, net earnings also rose to $6.9 million or $0.71 per share from $4.1 million or $0.39 per share in the previous year. revenues decreased 1.4% to $531.3 million from $538.7 million last year. Comparable store revenues for books, however, dropped 0.5% for the year ending […]
People
Curtis Riskey has been appointed Executive Director for CBA, effective immediately, after serving in an interim position since November 2009. Previously he was the Association’s strategic solutions executive. ReleaseSimon Juden has left his post as Chief Executive of the Publishers Association for Pearson, where he will be Head of Public Affairs. The Bookseller Chronicle Books announced a slew of promotions across the company. Sarah Billingsley has been named Assistant Editor, Food & Drink, while on the Children’s side, Melissa Manlove has been promoted to Editor, Mary Colgan to Assistant Editor, Eloise Leigh to Designer, and Amy Achaibou to Senior Designer. […]
Lunch Weekly for Monday, March 22
Deal Reports Just e-mail to deals@PublishersMarketplace if you aren’t using the online form linked below. Report a deal using the online form The Key As usual, the handy key to our Lunch deal categories. While all reports are always welcome, those that include a category will generally receive a higher listing when it comes time to put them all together. “nice deal” $1 – $49,000 “very nice deal” $50,000 – $99,000 “good deal” $100,000 – $250,000 “significant deal” $251,000 – $499,000 “major deal” $500,000 and up FICTION Children’s: Middle grade 2007 California Teacher of the Year and author of […]
People
Melissa Possick will become associate publisher for Random House Trade Paperbacks on April 5, reporting to Jane von Mehren, as Kim Hovey focuses full-time on her role as associate publisher for Ballantine. Possick, who began her career at Random House, is currently director of marketing at Workman. Katy Hershberger has been promoted to senior publicist at St. Martin’s.