EARNINGS ROUNDUP / BARNES & NOBLE

Shoppers scaling back on discretionary purchases like books and music hurt profit at Barnes & Noble Inc., which said earnings fell 29% in the period that included the dismal holiday season -- usually retailers’ busiest time of the year.

But the nation’s largest bookstore chain posted adjusted results that beat Wall Street’s forecast, and gave an outlook for the current quarter that was in line with what analysts expect. Its shares rose nearly 5%.

The New York company earned $81.2 million, or $1.46 a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter ended Jan. 31, compared with $115 million, or $1.79, a year earlier. Excluding severance charges and a charge related to the sale of its majority stake in Calendar Club, the company earned $93.3 million, or $1.67 a share. Analysts had expected $1.48 a share.

Total sales for the fourth quarter fell 6% to $1.63 billion from $1.74 billion a year earlier. That was also below $1.78 billion expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Barnes & Noble shares rose 99 cents, or 4.7%, to $22.