In addition to announcing its sale of Kobo yesterday, Indigo Books & Music, reported a net loss of C$9.7 million in its second quarter. Revenue, however, was up 1.7% from the same quarter last year, to C$218.5 million.
Indigo and Chapters superstores posted a 4.3% decrease in revenue, while Coles and IndigoSpirit small format stores were down 2.9%. Growth came in Indigo’s digital, gift, lifestyle and toy business. Sales from the Kobo division were up 219%, and sales from Indigo's online channel, indigo.ca, were up 1.1% compared to last year.
The results were the first since Indigo launched its new lifestyle product lines of home décor and gift items. CEO Heather Reisman said, "The results were expected as we continued to invest heavily in our rapidly growing global digital business and our transformation strategy to become the world's first cultural department store."
Reisman added, “"We are pleased to see real growth in the businesses in which we have invested. Consumers are clearly embracing our new product offerings. Our objective moving forward is to further drive the growth of these businesses."
Indigo also recorded a one-time goodwill impairment charge of C$25.4 million for the quarter, which it attributed “to the accelerated transition from physical books to digital books and increased investment in its digital business.”
