Barnes & Noble Posts Loss for Quarter

Barnes & Noble Inc. reported a fiscal fourth-quarter net loss due to write-downs of its beleaguered B. Dalton bookstores operation, sluggish holiday sales and widening losses from its online business. The nation’s largest bookseller said it suffered a loss of $34 million, or 52 cents a share, in the quarter ended Feb. 3, against a profit of $103.5 million, or $1.48, a year ago. Excluding the charge taken to write down B. Dalton assets, the company had earnings of $78.2 million, or $1.21 a share, in line with Wall Street forecasts. Revenue rose 22% to $1.61 billion. Barnes & Noble also warned that sales in the first half of the year probably will be down from the same period last year, when it benefited from strong sales of the Harry Potter children’s books and high-margin Pokemon card sales.