Barnes & Noble Reports Fiscal 2012 First Quarter Financial Results
(Press Release) New York, NY (August 30, 2011)— Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world's largest bookseller, today reported sales and earnings for its fiscal 2012 first quarter ended July 30, 2011.
FIRST QUARTER RESULTS
Total sales for the first quarter were $1.4 billion, a 2% increase compared to the prior year. Sales through BN.com increased 37% as compared to the prior year to $198 million, with comparable sales increasing 65%. This increase was driven by strong demand for the NOOK product line, including the continued success of the Award Winning NOOK Color, the mid-quarter launch of the NOOK Simple Touch Reader and a quadrupling of digital content sales over last year's first quarter.
Barnes & Noble store sales decreased 3% to $1 billion, with comparable store sales decreasing 1.6% for the quarter. While traditional physical book sales declined during the quarter, the stores posted large increases in sales of the NOOK product line and Toys & Games. In a non-back-to-school period, Barnes & Noble College Bookstore ("College") sales declined 2% to $220 million, with comparable store sales decreasing 1.8%.
The consolidated NOOK business across all of the company's segments, including sales of digital content, device hardware and related accessories, increased 140% in the first quarter to $277 million, on a comparable sales basis.
EARNINGS
The company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) improved 23% this quarter from a loss of $30.7 million to $23.6 million. For the first quarter, the company reported a consolidated net loss of $57 million, or $0.99 per share. The company's effective tax rate is 36.2%, lower than its previous rate of 39.7%. The change in the effective tax rate had a $0.05 per share impact on the quarter. Excluding the impact of the tax rate change, the company's net loss per share was $0.94.
