A week after Borders Group announced that first-quarter sales will not meet expectations, Barnes & Noble followed suit, reporting that its sales will also fall below earlier forecasts. The lower guidance was based on an extremely poor March, in which same-store sales at B&N's superstores fell 8.4%, while comparable-store sales at Dalton tumbled 17.3%. Although business was soft in February, B&N said sales were close to expectations, but then fell dramatically when the Iraqi war began.
Due to the slump in sales, B&N said it is reducing its sales and earnings forecast for the quarter. Comp sales at superstores are expected to be down 6% to 7% in the period, and earnings were lowered by 7 cents per share to a range of 7 cents to 9 cents. For the full year, superstore comp sales are now expected to be flat; B&N had predicted sales would be flat to up to 1%. Earnings for the year at the bookstores have been cut by 6 cents per share.
