Barnes & Noble, Inc. (NYSE:BKS) today reported sales and earnings for its fiscal 2018 second quarter ended October 28, 2017.
Total sales for the second quarter were $791.1 million, declining 7.9% as compared to the prior year. Comparable store sales decreased 6.3%, with approximately half of this decline attributable to last year’s release of Harry Potter and The Cursed Child. The balance of the decline was primarily due to non-book categories.
“Comparable sales improved throughout the second quarter and into November,” said Demos Parneros, Chief Executive Officer of Barnes & Noble, Inc. “Book sales continued to strengthen, and we saw improved traffic and conversion trends. As a result of the improving trends, we will continue to place a greater emphasis on books, while further narrowing our non-book assortment. We expect these improvements to continue as we head into the holiday season which, coupled with cost reductions, will enable us to achieve EBITDA of $180 million.”
The consolidated second quarter net loss was $30.1 million, or $0.41 per share, compared to a loss of $20.4 million, or $0.29 per share, in the prior year. The consolidated operating loss was $52.2 million for the quarter.
The Company incurred an EBITDA loss of $25.0 million for the quarter, primarily due to the comparable store sales decline.
more detail at: http://investors.barnesandnobleinc.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=1050284