Barnes & Noble.com reported sales of $99 million for the third quarter ended September 30, down from $102.6 million in last year's comparable period. The company said revenue was down in part because of a change in the way the e-tailer accounts for sales of used books. Despite the slight dip in sales, a 13.8% decrease in operating expenses helped to lower BN.com's net loss to $12.2 million from $17.5 million in last year's third quarter.
For the nine-month period, sales fell 1.2%, to $291.4 million, and the loss was reduced to $39.5 million from $58.6 million. For the fourth quarter, BN.com is expecting sales between $124 million and $139 million compared to sales of $128 million in last year's fourth quarter. The company said it still expects to report positive EBITDA in the final quarter. It lowered projections for the full year, however, from a range of $415 million—$450 million to a range of $415 million—$430 million. Sales in 2002 were $423 million.
