In the fiscal year ended April 29, total sales at Barnes & Noble fell 6.5%, to $3.9 billion, and net income was $22 million compared to a net loss of $24.4 million in fiscal year 2016.
In the fourth quarter, total sales fell 6.3%, to $821 million, and the net loss was $13.4 million, an improvement on the $30.6 million net loss in the same period a year earlier.
Sales at stores open at least a year fell 6.3% both during the fiscal year and in the fourth quarter. Online sales rose 2.9% in the quarter and 3.7% during the fiscal year.
The company predicted that during fiscal year 2018, sales at stores open at least a year will decline "in the low single digits."
Demos Parneros, who was named CEO in April, commented: "While fiscal 2017 proved to be a challenging year for the company, we reduced costs by $137 million, enabling us to sustain our profitability level. In fiscal 2018, we are focusing on ways to improve the business and reignite sales through an aggressive test and learn process and companywide simplification process that will take out costs."