Barnes & Noble Closes Gap on Losses

New York City, Barnes & Noble posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss on Tuesday due to better margins and strong sales of new releases.

Excluding a benefit related to a more favorable inventory shortage rate than estimated, the specialty book retailer reported a loss of $1.8 million.

The company posted a third-quarter net profit of $4.4 million, compared with a net loss of $2.8 million a year before.

Quarterly sales rose nearly 6% to $1.18 billion. And same-store sales rose 2.6%, which was at the high end of the company's forecast.