Nebraska Book Co. Reports Gains

-- Publishers Weekly, 7/9/2008 7:21:00 AM

Nebraska Acquisition Corp., parent company of the college textbook wholesaler and bookstore operator Nebraska Book Company, reported that total revenue for the year ended March 31 rose 6.8%, to $581.2 million, while net income dipped 8.6%, to $7.2 million. The company attributed the earnings decline to increases in depreciation, amortization and interest expense. Sales in the college bookstore group, NBC’s largest, rose 8.6%, to $454.4 million, due to the addition of more stores plus a 4.0% increase in same store sales. NBC operated 260 college stores at the end of March and in the first quarter added 11 more locations while losing contracts to five stores. In the textbook wholesale unit, sales rose 2.9%, to $139.7 million as higher prices and lower returns offset a decline in unit sales. Revenue in the complementary services unit, which provides an array of technology services, rose 6.7% to $34.4 million. Mark Oppegard, president of NBC, said he was pleased with the company’s fiscal 2008 performance, noting that despite “competition for student transactions, we believe we are well positioned to meet that challenge.”