Indigo Has Solid Year-End Gains

by Joshua Kerbel -- Publishers Weekly, 5/27/2008 7:45:00 AM

Canada’s Indigo Books & Music Inc. reported gains in both revenue and net earnings for both its fourth quarter and year ending March 29, 2008 in what was widely regarded as a difficult year due to falling retail book prices.

For the full year, total revenue grew 5.5% to C$922.9 million ($931 million) while net earnings jumped 76.0% to C$52.8 million $53.5 million). According to Indigo CEO Heather Reisman, "It was a demanding year for many retailers as a result of the significant increase in the Canadian dollar. Booksellers in particular saw a meaningful decrease in book prices. Despite this downward pressure on our top line we are pleased with our results."

The total revenue for the fourth quarter increased 2.1% to C$206.2 million, with Indigo and Chapters superstores posting 3.4% growth, Coles small format stores gaining 2.4% and online sales growing 1.0% from the same period a year ago. Fourth quarter net earnings were C$3.1 million, up C$7.3 million from the same quarter last year.