Profits are up at Barnes & Noble

Barnes & Noble reported a net profit of $63.2 million for the holiday 2013 quarter Wednesday. That is a significant change from a year earlier, when it reported a loss of $3.7 million.

The difference is the company’s e-reader, the Nook. Barnes & Noble has spun off the money-losing Nook into its own unit and has been taking cost-cutting measures, including clearing inventory and laying off workers.

“The company looks like it’s back on track” John Tinker, an analyst at Maxim Group in New York, told Bloomberg Businessweek. “The Nook is now coming under control.”

Barnes & Noble is the country’s largest brick-and-mortar bookseller. It has more than 1,300 retail bookstores, including college bookstores.

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