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Barnes & Noble 2nd-Quarter Profit RisesFiled at 4:45 p.m. ET NEW YORK (AP) Barnes & Noble Inc., the largest U.S. bookseller, said Thursday its second-quarter earnings rose 9 percent, boosted by sales of J.K. Rowlings Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The company also said it expects a loss in the third quarter, but increased its yearly guidance to reflect tax benefits and lower-than-expected costs for closing a distribution center. The companys shares rose 90 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $35.82 Thursday. The stock has traded between $30.01 and $43.80 over the past 52 weeks. Profit for the quarter ended Aug. 4 rose to $18.1 million, or 26 cents per share, from $16.6 million, or 24 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Results include 12 cents per share in previously unrecognized tax benefits and 3 cents per share for lower-than-forecast distribution center closing costs. Excluding those items, earnings totaled 12 cents per share in the latest quarter, at the high end of Barnes & Nobles forecast of earnings of 8 cents to 12 cents per share. Revenue rose nearly 8 percent to $1.24 billion. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected net income of 12 cents per share on revenue of $1.22 billion. The earnings estimates typically exclude one-time items. Chief Executive Steve Riggio said during a conference call that sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold even better than expectations during the first few days but tailed off quite a bit after that, as the book became available at mass merchants and non-bookstore retailers. Nevertheless, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows continues to sell well, it remains our number one best-selling hard cover title and we expect to sell hundreds of thousands of copies through the end of the year, he said. Aside from Harry Potter, best-selling books during the quarter included The Reagan Diaries, Al Gores The Assault on Reason, Conn and Hal Igguldens The Dangerous Book for Boys, Walter Isaacsons Einstein, Khaled Hosseinis A Thousand Splendid Suns and Janet Evanovichs Lean Mean Thirteen. The company said it expects a loss of 6 cents to 10 cents per share in the third quarter, on same-store sales growth that is flat to up in the low-single digits. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial predict a loss of 16 cents per share. For the year, the company expects earnings to be $1.69 to $1.87 per share, up from previous guidance $1.49 to $1.67 per share. Results include a 12-cent per share benefit from income taxes, a 3-cent per share benefit from lower distribution center closing costs, and a 5-cent per share benefit from a reduced fully diluted share count. Analysts, who typically exclude one-time items, expect earnings of $1.80 per share. Same-store sales sales at stores open at least a year rose 4.4 percent. Excluding sales of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which was released in July, same-store sales rose 1 percent. The same-store sales gauge is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones. Deutsche Bank analyst Dave Weiner said in a note to investors Thursday that results were in-line with expectations but noted that the 1 percent same-store sales increase excluding Harry Potter represents a two- or three-year trend of deceleration from prior quarters. He maintained his Hold rating on the stock and $37 price target. Tag CloudExternal InformationAdditional InformationThe Comic Book Is Back, in Luxe Coffee-Table Form...Government flags $15bn top-up for transport program... It’s an Election, Not a Revolution... One man, a big idea and sound business principles... Where Am I?News Main Page - Business - Barnes & Noble 2nd-Quarter Profit Rises |
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