Barnes & Noble Loss Widens And Misses Estimates

Barnes & Noble Inc. said Wednesday it had a net loss of $34.9 million, or 68 cents a share, in its first fiscal quarter, after a loss of $28.4 million, or 56 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. Sales fell to $1.22 billion from $1.24 billion. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 20 cents and sales of $1.22 billion. The company completed its spinoff of its education business on Aug. 2. "As we look to the second quarter and beyond, we are focused on opportunities to increase comparable store sales and reduce expenses," Chief Financial Officer Allen Lindstrom said in a statement. The Company plans to further reduce NOOK expenses through synergies with the Retail business and we expect to see those benefits during the balance of the fiscal year."