Barnes & Noble kicks off fiscal year with a loss
The nation’s largest bookseller started its fiscal year with a loss in its first quarter due to disappointing sales and turnaround initiatives that are struggling to take hold.
Barnes & Noble’s net loss for the quarter ended July 28, was $17.0 million, or 23 cents per share, compared to a loss of $10.8 million, or 15 cents per share, in the prior year. Analysts expected a loss of 9 cents per share.
Sales declined 6.9% to $795.0 million, which missed analysts’ expectations of $833.4 million. Same-store sales decreased 6.1%. On a monthly basis however, Barnes & Noble continued to narrow its same-store sales losses, as declines improved each month of the quarter, declining 7.8%, 6.1% and 4.5%, respectively. The sales trend continued to improve into the second quarter, declining 0.8% in August.
Barnes & Noble’s quarterly earnings come on the heels of the company’s recent firing of former chief executive Demos Parneros, who was terminated for “violations of the company’s policies.” Shortly after his termination, Parneros filed a lawsuit accusing Barnes & Noble founder and chairman Leonard Riggio of engineering his “firing without cause” and for “falsely and irrevocably’ damaging his reputation.
Parneros was tapped as CEO of the struggling bookstore chain in April 2017, the chain’s fourth CEO in four years. Prior to joining Barnes & Noble as COO in 2016, he was president of North American stores & online for Staples.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company is preparing for the upcoming holiday season, and is encouraged by the sequential improvement in its sales trend and the fall title line-up. The retailer is also focused on its merchandising initiatives to grow sales, while continuing to control expenses.
“We fully realize that cutting expenses does not alone provide a path to the long term viability of any retail business,” said Riggio. “Therefore, our short- and long-term focus is to grow our top line, and, by doing so, provide us the cash flow needed to grow our business.”
For fiscal 2019, the company continues to expect earnings to be in a range of $175 million to $200 million.
Barnes & Noble’s net loss for the quarter ended July 28, was $17.0 million, or 23 cents per share, compared to a loss of $10.8 million, or 15 cents per share, in the prior year. Analysts expected a loss of 9 cents per share.
Sales declined 6.9% to $795.0 million, which missed analysts’ expectations of $833.4 million. Same-store sales decreased 6.1%. On a monthly basis however, Barnes & Noble continued to narrow its same-store sales losses, as declines improved each month of the quarter, declining 7.8%, 6.1% and 4.5%, respectively. The sales trend continued to improve into the second quarter, declining 0.8% in August.
Barnes & Noble’s quarterly earnings come on the heels of the company’s recent firing of former chief executive Demos Parneros, who was terminated for “violations of the company’s policies.” Shortly after his termination, Parneros filed a lawsuit accusing Barnes & Noble founder and chairman Leonard Riggio of engineering his “firing without cause” and for “falsely and irrevocably’ damaging his reputation.
Parneros was tapped as CEO of the struggling bookstore chain in April 2017, the chain’s fourth CEO in four years. Prior to joining Barnes & Noble as COO in 2016, he was president of North American stores & online for Staples.
Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company is preparing for the upcoming holiday season, and is encouraged by the sequential improvement in its sales trend and the fall title line-up. The retailer is also focused on its merchandising initiatives to grow sales, while continuing to control expenses.
“We fully realize that cutting expenses does not alone provide a path to the long term viability of any retail business,” said Riggio. “Therefore, our short- and long-term focus is to grow our top line, and, by doing so, provide us the cash flow needed to grow our business.”
For fiscal 2019, the company continues to expect earnings to be in a range of $175 million to $200 million.