Citing continued improvement in its core book business, Books-A-Million reported that it cut its net loss for the second quarter ended August 2, 2014 to $3.0 million from $9.1 million in the comparable period last year. (Second quarter results last year included $6 million in higher taxes due in part to the reversal of some tax benefits). Total sales in the period fell 0.5%, to $108.3 million, while comparable store sales inched ahead 0.1%. Excluding e-reader sales, comp sales were up 0.8%
CEO Terry Finley said that improvement in BAM’s book business, led by the teen and children’s segments, led gains, citing strong performances from a number of movie related titles including, The Fault in Our Stars and Frozen. A number of merchandise categories also did well, including bargain book and gifts, while the toy, media and café departments also had improvement.Finley said the company's most challenging comparisons continued to be with its Nook offerings.
During the quarter, BAM also opened its twentieth 2nd & Charles outlet, which it calls “buy-sell-trade” stores. BAM closed the quarter with a total of 260 locations.
For the first six months of the year, total revenue was down 0.1%, to $212.1 million and the net loss was reduced to $9.0 million from $12.8 million.
