Reuters: Global Markets: Barnes & Noble sales light on Nook returns

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Barnes & Noble sales light on Nook returns Jun 19th 2012, 13:41 Tue Jun 19, 2012 9:41am EDT (Reuters) - Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N) reported lower-than-expected quarterly sales as its Nook e-reader business was hurt by discounts as it competes with Amazon.com's (AMZN.O) Kindle franchise. The company did not give any forecast for the current fiscal year's financial results and its shares fell 7.2 percent, or $1.10, to $14.17 in early trading. "That's what kind of spooks investors here," Morningstar analyst Peter Wahlstrom said about the lack of a forecast. "We don't have much to really grasp on to." Barnes & Noble has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into developing Nook, helped by well-reviewed devices including a glow-in-the-dark Nook, allowing it to garner some 27 percent of the U.S. e-books market in the 2-1/2 years since the reader was launched. But that compares with Amazon's 60 percent, and in January, the retailer acknowledged slower-than-expected sales of devices like the black and white Nook Simple Touch. The company's sales were hurt by returns of the device from retailers during the fourth quarter, which is typically the slowest sales quarter for Barnes & Noble. Revenue for the quarter was $1.38 billion, up slightly from a year earlier, but below the average analyst estimate of $1.48 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. Barnes & Noble said in April that Microsoft Inc (MSFT.O) would invest $300 million and get a 17.6 percent stake in a new subsidiary made up of the Nook digital business and its College bookstore chain. Revenue at its Nook business, including e-books, fell 19 percent to $164 million during the fourth quarter, which ended April 28, as the company took returns of the Simple Touch reader. Same-store sales at its 700 superstores rose 4.5 percent compared with the year-earlier quarter. Barnes & Noble reported a net loss of $57.7 million, or $1.08 per share, for the quarter, compared with $59.4 million, or $1.04 per share, a year ago. (Reporting By Phil Wahba and Brad Dorfman; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Maureen Bavdek) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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