Barnes & Noble Profits Up

NEW YORK CITY-Profits were up 23% at Barnes & Noble during the second quarter as lower costs offset declining sales due to the absence of a blockbuster title. The nation’s largest bookseller said earnings rose to $16.6 million, or 24 cents a share, for the quarter ended July 29, an increase of $3.1 million over the same period last year when earnings were $13.5 million, or 18 cents a share.

The lack of a strong title like last year’s “Harry Potter” caused sales to dip slightly from $1.17 billion a year earlier to $1.16 billion, the company said. Sales at its smaller B. Dalton stores were off 31%, dropping to $21.9 million. At stores open at least a year, sales at the company’s flagship chain were down 2.6% while same store sales dropped 9.1% at B. Dalton during the quarter. Sales at Barnes & Noble.com also declined 14 % to $82.7 million, the company said.

“We look back at the first half of this year as one of the softest periods in recent memory for the book industry in terms of hardcover new releases,” Steve Riggio, chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble, during a conference with investors and analysts. “There were simply very few new hardcover books that generated media buzz or sustained sales by word-of-mouth recommendations.”Riggio said sales would have been positive if last year’s Harry Potter sales were not counted.