Barnes & Noble Posts $2.7M 1Q Loss As Sales Drop

SARAH SKIDMORE

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Barnes & Noble Inc. reported Thursday that it lost $2.7 million in the first quarter as its sales continued a multi-quarter slide, but the results beat Wall Street expectations and the bookseller raised its profit forecast for the year.

Sales have been slipping away from the nation's largest bookstore chain for some time as shoppers turn to online and discount booksellers. The recession has compounded the problem, with consumers severely limiting spending on discretionary items like books and music.

New York-based Barnes & Noble's $2.7 million loss for the quarter that ended May 2 amounts to 5 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.2 million, or 4 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding the impact of discontinued operations, the company lost 4 cents per share, better than the loss of 15 cents per share analysts expected.

The bookseller's revenue fell 4 percent to $1.11 billion, also better than analysts' forecast, of $1.08 billion.

Online sales dropped 7 percent and comparable-store sales fell 5.7 percent, slightly better than the 6 percent to 9 percent drop the company anticipated — but still tracking the negative revenue trend.