Barnes & Noble Reports Loss of $58 Million on $1.4 Billion in Sales Customers who flocked to bookstores for the hugely popular "Hunger Games" and "Fifty Shades of Grey" trilogies helped lift Barnes & Noble's same-store sales 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter, but the bookseller missed expectations, reporting a net loss of $57.7 million. The company reported sales of $1.4 billion in the three months that ended April 28, less than analysts had estimated. The company's stock fell more than 4 percent in midafternoon trading. Barnes & Noble, the country's largest bookstore chain, for the first time reported its Nook e-reader business as a standalone operating unit. The Nook division had sales of $164 million for the fourth quarter, a drop of 11 percent from the same quarter the year before, the company said, as it took back Nook Simple Touch devices from retailers to make room for new inventory. The Nook division recorded sales of $933 million for the full fiscal year, which also ended April 28, an increase of 34 percent over the previous year. Sales of digital content, including e-books, magazines and apps, rose 65 percent in the fourth quarter and 119 percent for the year. "We grew our business in 2012 while continuing to make the necessary investments for the future of the business," William J. Lynch Jr., the chief executive of Barnes & Noble, said in a statement. As we look out to fiscal 2013, we feel the company is strategically well positioned to grow value for shareholders. Barnes & Noble has invested heavily in the Nook as a way of strengthening its position in the digital-book market, raising concerns on Wall Street about the toll of such heavy capital spending. In April, Microsoft announced that it would invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Barnes & Noble's Nook division, valuing the unit at $1.7 billion and giving Barnes & Noble a much-needed lift for its growing, but expensive, digital business. The Microsoft deal has eased some investor concerns, though Barnes & Noble's stock remains down more than 25 percent from a year ago. While Barnes & Noble has more than 25 percent of the e-book market, it faces a formidable competitor in Amazon, which dominates e-book sales. A deal to form a new subsidiary, made up of the company's Nook and college bookstore businesses, called Newco, has not been completed. Barnes & Noble said on Tuesday that it was "actively engaged" in that project. In a conference call with analysts and reporters, Mr. Lynch said he expected to make announcements soon on plans to expand internationally and that the company would be in "several international markets" by the holidays. He has hinted that the Nook e-readers would eventually be available for sale abroad. Barnes & Noble announced a new e-reader in April, a black-and-white device with a back-lit screen that is designed to be used for nighttime reading. Amazon is expected to introduce a new e-reader of its own later this year. Earlier Coverage of Barnes & Noble