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Barnes & Noble Education reports fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021 financial results

By Reshma on Jun 30, 2021 | 02:30 AM IST

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Barnes & Noble Education Inc [BNED] a leading solutions provider for the education industry, today reported sales and earnings for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021. The fourth quarter and full year ended May 1, 2021, consisted of 13 weeks and 52 weeks, respectively, as compared to 14 weeks and 53 weeks in the prior year. Comparable sales data in this release excludes the impact of the additional week in fiscal year 2020.

BNED’s fiscal 2021 results were significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Many schools adjusted their learning model and restricted on-campus activities in response to the pandemic, including the implementation of virtual/remote learning models to curtail on-campus classes and activities due to health and safety concerns. While many athletic-conferences resumed sporting activities during fiscal 2021, fan attendance at games was severely restricted or even eliminated, which further impacted sales from Retail’s high-margin general merchandise offerings. Additionally, year-over-year sales were impacted by COVID-19 related enrollment declines in higher education.

Financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year 2021:

•Consolidated fourth quarter sales of $222.8 million decreased 13.3% as compared to the prior year period; consolidated fiscal year sales of $1,433.9 million decreased 22.5% as compared to the prior year.

•Consolidated fourth quarter GAAP net loss was $(44.4) million, compared to a net loss of $(40.3) million in the prior year period. Consolidated fiscal year GAAP net loss was $(131.8) million, compared to a net loss of $(38.3) million in the prior year.

•Consolidated fourth quarter non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss was $(31.4) million, compared to a non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss of $(20.7) million in the prior year; consolidated fiscal year non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA loss was $(65.6) million, as compared to non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA of $42.2 million in the prior year.

•Consolidated fourth quarter non-GAAP Adjusted Earnings was $(32.8) million, compared to non-GAAP Adjusted Earnings of $(28.1) million in the prior year period; consolidated fiscal year non-GAAP Adjusted Earnings was $(89.0) million, compared to non-GAAP Adjusted Earnings of $(21.1) million in the prior year.

•Total fiscal year 2021 borrowings increased by only $2.9 million to $177.6 million as compared to the prior year period, led by working capital improvements, the sale of logo and emblematic merchandise inventory to Lids, and the strategic equity investment in BNED by Fanatics and Lids.

Operational highlights for fiscal year 2021:

BNC First Day® digital course delivery model year-over-year revenue increased 94%, benefitting from the accelerated move to digital courseware.

•Reached agreements for 64 campus stores to support the BNC First Day® Complete courseware delivery program in Fall Term 2021, representing approximately 300,000 in total undergraduate enrollment; up from 12 campus stores and 43,000 in total undergraduate enrollment in Fall Term 2020.

•Gained over 300,000 gross subscribers for the bartleby® suite of services in fiscal 2021, with DSS revenue increasing 15.7% for the same period. 

•Launched beta release of bartleby Expert Live Chat, a text-based tutoring offering that connects students to our expert network for students who have follow-up questions on a bartleby solution, need more clarity on a textbook question, or want to speak to a tutor as soon as possible.

•Continued to attract new clients and generate new business growth, signing over $103 million in gross new business in fiscal year 2021 and expanding BNED’s footprint by 52 institutions and 31 K-12 schools.

•Entered into a long-term strategic omnichannel merchandising partnership with Fanatics and Lids , forging an alliance with the two retail and ecommerce leaders in the licensed sports and emblematic merchandise category. Significant joint go-to-market activity planned with Fanatics and Lids to attract new business through enhanced offering.

“COVID-19 had a profound impact on the world over the past sixteen months and presented many challenges for the education industry. Institutions implemented remote and hybrid learning models, seemingly overnight. Our teams at BNED quickly pivoted to support our campus partners and provide valuable solutions. Their efforts have been remarkable, and I could not be prouder,” said Michael P. Huseby, Chairman and CEO, BNED. “We ensured students had their course materials wherever they were studying, and our DSS offerings provided on-demand digital tutoring and learning services to students at a time when their traditional resources were not as readily available. In addition to providing uninterrupted service, we also continued to execute and make significant progress on our strategic initiatives, including the expansion of our footprint through new school contracts, growing the number of schools and students served through our First Day inclusive access models, significantly growing our gross bartleby subscriber count to over 300,000, and forging a partnership with Fanatics and Lids (FLC), which will both bolster our logo and emblematic offerings and, as we have already started to experience, provide us with a significant advantage in competing for new business and renewing existing contracts.

“The education industry has been evolving rapidly – and while the COVID-19 pandemic shut down campuses nationwide and upended the traditional learning model, it did not stop the industry’s evolution. Rather, we believe the pandemic has further accelerated higher education’s transformation. As we look ahead to fiscal 2022 and beyond, we are focused on scaling our strategic initiatives,” continued Mr. Huseby. “We expect these initiatives to make our offerings for our campus partners even more relevant and to generate new business growth as more schools look to implement our valuable solutions. We look forward to reviewing these initiatives in further detail at our Investor Day on June 30.”

 

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