Company March 31 April 29 % CHANGE
April was a cruel month for the Publishers Weekly Stock Index and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, with both falling 3%. Losers outnumbered winners on the PWSI by 17 to five. The biggest loser in April, for the second month in a row, was Advanced Marketing Services, whose stock price tumbled 24.7%. The company was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange April 19 after the NYSE refused to grant the company a further extension to file its delayed annual report for fiscal 2004. Books-A-Million's price declined 15.6% in April, due in part to a downgrade on the stock from Sun Trust Robinson Humphrey, one of the few investment firms that follows the company. Borders Group stock ended the month down 9.1%; the company announced April 19 that its first-quarter results would fall short of expectations.
Winners
R. R. Donnelley 31.62 32.91 4.1%
Barnes & Noble 34.49 35.60 3.2
John Wiley & Sons 35.25 36.16 2.6
Thomas Nelson 23.65 23.98 1.4
Losers
Advanced Marketing Svc. 6.00 4.52 -24.7%
Books-A-Million 8.91 7.52 -15.6
LeapFrog 11.35 10.01 -11.8
Borders Group 26.62 24.19 -9.1
Courier Corp. 52.44 48.78 -7.0
Reed Plc 41.62 39.17- 5.9
Publishers Weekly
Stock Index 558.06 541.50 -3.0%
Dow Jones Average 10,503.76 10,192.51 -3.0%