Books-A-Million reports Q4 profit jump

Books-A-Million continued to benefit from a spike in book sales and the popularity of Minecraft and Disney’s “Frozen” in the fourth quarter, as same store sales and profit increased.

The chain posted a profit of $3.5 million in the year ended Jan. 31 compared to a net loss of $7.6 million in 2013. Same store sales increased 0.4% in the year and rose 1.7% in the fourth quarter when total sales rose 1.8% and net income increased 0.8% at Books-A-Million over the previous year with sales hitting $474 million.

Terry Finley, CEO and president, said: “We delivered strong results for the quarter by building on a successful holiday selling season. Our team maintained the holiday sales momentum to drive success in full-priced books, gifts and café. We are pleased with our profit improvement for the quarter and the year.”

In a conference call discussing results, Finley noted that the company continued to benefit from the positive trends in physical book sales.

“Overall, children's books, led by Frozen and Minecraft titles, did especially well in the year, while several nonbook categories also had a solid gains in the year. Our core book business continue to benefit from improving consumer book industry trend and exceeded plan for the period in spite of what was arguably a less robust publishing line-up in last year.

Finley also said BAM is looking forward to the release of Harper “Lee's Go Set a Watchman” this summer, which he called a "once in a lifetime event." Pre-orders have been strong for the book, he added. BAM’s board is currently reviewing a proposal by the family of chairman Clyde Anderson to acquire the shares in the bookstore chain it does not already own, a move that would take the company private. The company had no update on when a decision on the bid would be made.

Books-A-Million operates 257 stores in 32 states and the District of Columbia.