Thursday, February 28, 2013

NOOK Woes Contribute To Barnes & Noble Fiscal Q3 Loss

Barnes & NobleThe book retail chain has a bleak story for Wall Street this morning. It reported a net loss of $6.1M for the three months that ended in January, down from a $52M profit a year ago, on revenues of $2.2B, -8.8%. Revenues missed analyst expectations for $2.4B. And with a dividend on preferred shares thrown in, the company generated a net loss of 18 cents a share ' a contrast to the 54 cent profit analysts anticipated. The NOOK results continued to disappoint. It generated $316M in sales in the quarter, down 25.9% from a year ago, with a cash flow (EBITDA) loss of $190.4M, worse than last year's $82.8M loss. The results include $21M for returns, and $15M in promotional allowances. As a result, Barnes & Noble took a $59M writedown on its NOOK inventory. It says that it is 'calibrating its business model and has implemented a cost reduction program that the company projects will significantly reduce NOOK's expenses.' CEO William Lynch says that the company remains committed to the tablet and e-reader business. In the main retail bookstore business, sales decreased 10.3% to $1.5B although EBITDA increased 7.3% to $212M. Not including NOOK sales, revenues at stores open at least a year were down 2.2%. This week B&N founder Leonard Riggio said he may offer to buy the stores.

Get Deadline news and alerts FREE to your inbox...


No comments:

Post a Comment