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Originally Posted by Fbone
B&N's CFO Joseph Lombardi hinted in his resignation statement that with the company's commitment to digital he felt it was an appropriate time to step down. Wall St analysts say that Mr Lombardi doesn't have the digital/online experience to help B&N with the transition. Although, his interim replacement is the former CFO of Liberty Travel. Not sure what he brings to the table. Mr Lombardi will stay with B&N as a non-officer until 2012 when a permanent replacement is found and trained.
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Perhaps at the analyst call in late Nov the company will provide a little more info around the sudden departure. Lombardi, 49, had only been CFO for 18 months; his current contract expires 2013. Allen Lindstrom, B&N Controller since 2007, appears to be chosen merely because he was available; he's the interim person while an executive search for a "permanent" CFO is engaged. Most analysts agree B&N is at a critical juncture and cannot afford a mis-step; any unexpected changes of top executives raises leadership questions.
B&N is also putting final touches to its Q1, ending Oct 31, and some expect it will be a bleak quarter due to the one-time whirlwind exit of Borders which almost certainly impact B&N store sales as shoppers cleared final stock at the rival chain.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sao
That number went down, did it not, SensualPoet? I know I've seen the figure quoted as closer to 60% at one point. And yes, I knew about Short Covers. I had an account that was switched over when they became Kobo.  |
Yes. Kobo, as a stand-alone entity, is privately held by Indigo, Cheong King and a smaller number of institutional investors (including relatively recent ones who helped the company raise $50 million earlier this year).
Quote:
Originally Posted by taming
They are on both the Canadian and US Best Buy sites now.
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Yes, in fact, pre-orders are available through kobo.com, Best Buy, Frys, Future Shop, Indigo ... it's a much more widespread roll out than any of the previous Kobos. This is a significant gamble for the company, arriving in mass just in time for the biggest selling season of the year. Assuming the device is as capable as it appears -- offering direct tradeoffs of price vs features -- the timing couldn't be better. With Amazon making so much noise in the marketplace, Kobo can do very, very well merely tagging along.