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Non-Tech : Borders Group (BGP) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill J. Landis who wrote (231)	3/9/1999 8:57:00 AM
From: david james	Respond to of 411

Borders Group 4th-Qtr Earnings Increase 9.9% on Stronger Sales news.com Bloomberg News March 8, 1999, 8:33 p.m. PT Borders Group 4th-Qtr Earnings Increase 9.9% on Stronger Sales Ann Arbor, Michigan, March 8 (Bloomberg) -- Borders Group Inc., the nation's No. 2 bookseller, said fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 9.9 percent on strong sales at its superstores. The operator of about 1,200 Borders, Waldenbooks and Brentanos stores said net income rose to $86.7 million, or $1.06 a share, from $78.9 million, or 96 cents, a year earlier. The company was expected to earn $1.05 a share, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. Much of the earnings increase came from superstore sales, which rose 19.9 percent to $539.6 million for the quarter. The company opened 47 new stores during the year and expects to open another 50 in 1999, including five overseas. Revenue rose 10.1 percent to $945.5 million, from $858.8 million. ''Borders is the fastest-growing retail book and music superstore chain and provides its shareholders an industry- leading 14 percent return on average equity,'' company Chief Executive Phil Pfeffer said in a statement. He added that the company expects results to improve this year as it opens more stores, restructures marketing activities and improves its Internet operations. In January, Ann Arbor, Michigan-based Borders twice warned that fiscal 1999 earnings would miss forecasts because of slow sales. The company urged analysts to lower their expectations from $1.22 a share to $1.11 to $1.13 a share. Net income for fiscal year 1998 rose 14.8 percent to $92.1 million, or $1.12 a share, from $80.2 million, or 98 cents. The company was expected to earn $1.11, according to First Call. For the year, sales increased 14.5 percent to $2.595 billion, from $2.266 billion in 1997. Borders.com, the company's Internet retailer, had a loss for the quarter of $3.6 million, or 4 cents a share, on sales of $2.6 million. It had a loss of $10.5 million, or 13 cents, for the year, on sales of $4.6 million. The revenue figures lag those of leading Internet booksellers Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble Inc., which had sales of $610 million and $70.2 million, respectively, for the year. Borders introduced its Web site later than Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble, and hasn't devoted as much money to it, analysts have said. Borders' shares rose 3/16 to 13 3/4 today. Earnings were announced after the close of U.S. markets. --Courtney Schlisserman in the New York newsroom (212) 318-2300, More News: BGP

To: Bill J. Landis who wrote (231)	3/9/1999 9:28:00 AM
From: rrufff	Respond to of 411

Great idea - contact the company. Maybe they'll offer you a job.

To: Bill J. Landis who wrote (231)	3/9/1999 10:07:00 AM
From: LakesideTrader	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 411

Just curious - did an analyst "pounding the table" help you with the decisions you describe as follows: "That said, I'd like to add that I agree that Borders is a great value. I've been long since late 1996. I considered selling some or all of my holdings in July which, in retrospect, I wish I had done. Instead, I ended up adding some shares when it dropped below 20 in early January. While I now wish I had waited to add, I'm not particularly uncomfortable with the investment." I bought in at 13 3/4 and am quite comfortable with my investment in an excellent retailer. I will call an analyst (who pretends to be able to call the market with his crystal ball) a jerk if I so choose.

To: Bill J. Landis who wrote (231)	3/9/1999 11:55:00 AM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 411

WSJ, I think, had an article on internet cafes folding. Our local internet cafe, owned by a friend of mine, is close to going out of business. Too many people who don't know what they're doing "trying out' the net there and screwing up the systems and requiring lots of service time to help and reset the systems, but not becoming long term customers because either they can't figure out the net or don't find it worthwhile, or if they do they buy their own system. Cheap computers and fast modems make it too easy to access the net from home. More and more public libraries are offering free internet access (ours does, for example). Kinkos and other copy centers offer access. More local and community colleges are offering computer classes with cheap lab time. I think going internet cafe would be a BIG mistake.