Barnes & Noble swings to a profit for fourth quarter, beats expectations

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Posted 11:54AM on Thursday, March 21, 2002

NEW YORK - Barnes & Noble Inc., boosted by strong sales for the holiday period, swung into a profit for the fourth quarter and beat Wall Street expectations by a penny. The nation's largest bookseller posted earnings Thursday of $83.95 million, or $1.09 per share, in the three-month period ended Feb. 2. That compared with a loss of $34 million, or 52 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The results included a $4.5 million charge for a settlement of a lawsuit. Excluding the item, earnings per share were $1.35, compared with $1.21 per share a year ago. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call expected $1.34 per share. The retailer posted a nearly 13 percent gain in overall sales to $1.8 billion, up from $1.6 billion a year ago. Total bookstore sales rose 2.2 percent to $1.2 billion, and 3.7 billion for the year, an increase of 3.6 percent. The division earned $88.2 million, or $1.15 per share, for the quarter, and $115 million, or $1.59 per share, for the year. While the Barnes & Noble stores posted 5 percent gains for the quarter, B. Dalton Bookseller fell nearly 18 percent. Sales at GameStop, its video game business, gained 57.2 percent. GameStop completed an initial public offering on Feb. 19, raising $250 million in cash for Barnes & Noble, Inc, and $98 million in proceeds for GameStop. Barnes & Noble has retained approximately a 60 percent interest in GameStop. For the year, Barnes & Noble generated earnings of $64 million, or 94 cents per share, compared with a loss of $52 million, or 81 cents per share, a year ago. Sales were $4.87 billion, compared to $4.4 billion in the year-ago period. The company projects earnings of $1.87 per share. Barnes & Noble's shares were up 2 cents to $31.90 per share on the New York Stock Exchange.