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Barnes & Noble hits mark
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November 18, 1999: 11:50 a.m. ET
Strong brick-and-mortar book sales, drop in Web losses help 3Q results
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Barnes & Noble Inc. Thursday posted third-quarter earnings that met forecasts, helped by strong sales of everything from Pokemon books to Stephen King, and a drop in losses from its online operations.
The nation's largest bookseller had net income in the quarter ended Oct. 30 of $3.4 million, or 5 cents a diluted share, in line with estimates of analysts surveyed by First Call. A year ago, the New York-based holding company had a $4.6 million net loss, or 7 cents a share, due to large losses at barnesandnoble.com (BNBN), the e-commerce operation it owns in a joint venture with German media giant Bertelsmann. Each of those companies owns about 40 percent of the BNBN stock, which had its initial public offering in May.
Barnes & Noble (BKS) saw its share of losses in the online operation fall to $8.7 million, or 7 cents per Barnes & Noble diluted share, in the latest quarter, from $20.5 million, or 18 cents a share, a year ago. Those losses are reflected in its net income numbers.
Same-store sales at its Barnes & Noble superstore division were up 5.9 percent, while overall sales in the division rose 12.3 percent to $554 million. But same-store sales fell 0.8 percent at its B. Dalton chain. Overall sales were $715.9 million, up 9 percent from $656.8 million a year ago.
For the first nine months, Barnes & Noble had net income of $25.5 million from operations, or 37 cents a diluted share, before an after-tax charge of $4.5 million, or 7 cents a share. to cover a change in accounting practices. A year earlier, the company had a net loss $13.6 million, or 20 cents a share. Overall sales increased 9.4 percent to $2.16 billion from $1.98 billion.
Competitor Borders Group Inc. (BGP) is due to release its earnings after the market closes Thursday. Analysts expect it to post a loss of 5 cents a diluted share, or about $3.9 million, for the period.
Barnes & Noble's stock traded down 7/16 Wednesday at midday, at 21-3/4. 
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