Borders Reports Loss of $18.1 Million for Biz Operations in May

Borders Group Inc. reported a loss of $18.1 million in its business operations for a period covering much of May in a report filed with its bankruptcy court this week.

Counting bankruptcy reorganization items and income taxes, Borders lost $35.4 million from May 1-May 28, the company said in a report to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday. The nation's second-largest bookstore chain entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February, when it announced that it would close 194 of its 642 stores, and it has been forced to shutter more since.

Borders reported that its balance sheet is just that -- balanced -- as it has $714.3 million in assets and liabilities.

Its assets include $444.7 million in merchandise, $165.3 million in property and equipment, and $19.1 million in cash, the company said.

Borders also disclosed that it made three substantial payments to insiders during the reporting period, each for $50,000. Two were contract signing incentives for Chief Financial Officer Scott Henry and Chief Merchandising Officer Michele Cloutier, and one was a transition incentive for Glen Tomaszewski, the chief accounting officer and controller, who signed the monthly operating report submitted to the bankruptcy court.

For more details, see the report.

Edward B. Colby is the Books editor of the International Business Times. He can be reached at e.colby@ibtimes.com.