Barnes & Noble 4Q Loss Widens On Higher Expenses; Online Sales Surge

Barnes & Noble (NYSE:BKS) revealed a deeper-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter loss on Tuesday as the bookseller felt negative short-term effects from the liquidation of more than 200 stores of rival Borders.

New York-based Barnes & Noble said it lost $59.4 million, or $1.04 a share, in the quarter ended April 30, compared with a lighter loss of $32 million, or 58 cents a share, a year earlier. Analysts had called for a more modest loss of 91 cents a share.

Sales increased 4% to $1.37 billion, trailing the Streets view of $1.4 billion. Same-store sales slid 2.9%, a decline Barnes & Noble blamed on going-out-of-business sales at bankrupt Borders, which liquidated 200 bookstores during the quarter.

Barnes & Noble said college textbook sales gained 3% last quarter and online sales surged 54.4% due to the Nook eReader.

Due to a $1 billion takeover bid from Liberty Media last month that Barnes & Noble is still weighing, the company declined to offer a sales or profit outlook for fiscal 2012.

Barnes & Noble saw its stock drop in the wake of its results, sinking 2.78% to $19.58 Tuesday morning. For the year, the stock remained up a healthy 42%.