The Financial Post reports that Indigo Books & Music Inc., Canada’s largest bookstore retail chain, posted higher profit and sales in the third quarter despite a sizable decline in the price of books published in the United States and a charge for redundant software. For the period ended Dec. 30 2006, the retailer said earnings rose 3% to CDN $40.9-million ($1.68 a share), compared with profit of CDN $39.7- million ($1.65) in the same quarter a year ago. The company took a CDN $1.6-million charge to write off software assets in the company’s online business, Chapters.Indigo.ca.
“We are pleased with our performance, given a 6% average decline in the price of U.S.-published books driven by the strong Canadian dollar,” said Heather Reisman, chief executive of Indigo. “Not only have we been able to grow our top line well above the North American industry average, but we’ve done so without the benefit of strong blockbuster titles this past quarter, compared to last year.”