Barnes & Noble to split bookstore, Nook units

Faced with dropping e-reader sales, Barnes & Noble is spinning off its Nook business as a separate public company in an effort to boost shareholder value.

The split will be completed by the first quarter of 2015, the company said. The company also reported its fourth-quarter results, showing a drop in comparable sales at Barnes & Noble stores, in addition to continuing losses with the Nook. Revenue in the Nook unit fell 22% to $87 million.

Digital content sales fell 19% to $62 million.

Barnes & Noble posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $36.7 million, or 72 cents a share, compared with a loss of $114.8 million, or $2.04, a year earlier. Revenue rose 3.5% to $1.32 billion, helped by the company's college business.

“We believe we are now in a better position to begin in earnest those steps necessary to accomplish a separation of Nook Media and Barnes & Noble Retail,” Michael P. Huseby, the company’s chief executive, said. “We have determined that these businesses will have the best chance of optimizing shareholder value if they are capitalized and operated separately.”