Barnes & Noble ends 2013 on down note

New York – Barnes & Noble reported disappointing financial results for the fourth quarter and full fiscal year 2013. During the fourth quarter, Barnes & Noble reported a net loss of $122 million, significantly more than the net loss of $9.7 million reported in fourth quarter 2012. For the full fiscal year, the retailer posted a net loss of $154.8 million, compared with a net loss of $56.9 million the prior fiscal year.

Revenues for the fourth quarter declined 7.4% to $1.3 billion. Full year revenues totaled $6.8 billion, a 4.1% drop from fiscal 2012. The company said the adverse effect of inventory charges related to its Nook e-reader device was a major driver of its poor fourth-quarter and year-end performance.

“Our retail and college businesses delivered strong financial performances in fiscal year 2013,” said William Lynch, CEO of Barnes & Noble. “We are taking big steps to reduce the losses in the Nook segment, as we move to a partner-centric model in tablets and reduce overhead costs. We plan to continue to innovate in the single purpose black-and-white e-reader category, and the underpinning of our strategy remains the same today as it has since we first entered the digital market, which is to offer customers any digital book, magazine or newspaper, on any device.”

For fiscal year 2014, the company expects retail comparable book store sales to decline in the high-single digits on a percentage basis. College comparable-store sales are expected to decline in the low-single digits on a percentage basis.