Booktopia earnings collapse, CEO Tony Nash in shock resignation

Booktopia is the latest online retailer to warn of slowing sales since the beginning of the year as Covid-19 lockdowns ease.

Booktopia’s founding chief executive Tony Nash has resigned. Picture: Britta Campion

Online book retailer Booktopia has announced the shock resignation of its founder and chief executive Tony Nash, and unveiled a trading update that showed a collapse in earnings and an expected full year loss as the once booming online retail sector begins to moderate.

Booktopia is the latest online retailer to warn of slowing sales since the beginning of the year, as lockdowns ease and people once again enjoy going out, shopping at bricks and mortar stores as well as changing their purchasing decisions as they spend more time out of the home.

This has hit Booktopia’s sales trajectory and earnings, with the company revealing for the nine months to March its pre-tax earnings slumped 63 per cent to $5.5m, and it now forecasting full year earnings of $3m to $4m and a net loss for the year.

Late on Monday Booktopia, which only listed on the ASX in December 2020, said its founding CEO, Mr Nash, would step down and take up a new role within the company.

“Booktopia co-founder and CEO Tony Nash has informed the board of his intention to step aside from the role of CEO. He will continue as a full-time senior executive and director with the company in a new position focused exclusively on growth,” the company said in an ASX statement.

It said the decision to step aside from the CEO role was in the best interests of Booktopia and would give the company the best opportunity to balance the demands of complex operations, while remaining a high growth business.

Meanwhile, in a trading update, Booktopia said revenue was up 9 per cent to $194.7m for the nine months to the end of March. Earnings slumped by two thirds

Revenue for the three months to the end of March of $64.5m was down 1 per cent on the same period last year due to the disrupted start to the academic year, resulting in lower overall revenue from academic book sales, which have traditionally contributed strongly to third quarter performance, the company said.

Online sales have moderated, with books less in demand with lockdowns eased.

“The trading environment for e-commerce companies remains volatile and unpredictable. “Online book sales were a major beneficiary of lockdowns and other restrictions, but as the economy returns to normal, the growth in online books sales has moderated.

“While pandemic-level sales growth has receded, there are still positive signs, and the company expects online book sales as a market segment to continue to grow in the high single digits per annum in the foreseeable future from this new post-pandemic baseline.”