US book retailer stands by Nook despite e-books' Christmas calamity

Barnes & Noble launched a defiance defence of its Nook business despite a calamitous performance from e-books over the crucial Christmas trading period.

The US book retailer also launched an evaluation of the offer made by its founder, chairman and largest shareholder, Leonard Riggio, for the retail operation and stores of Barnes & Noble.

E-book unit Nook's losses more than doubled to $190m (£125m) over the three months to 26 January, which the company blamed on plunging sales of the devices.

The Financial Times publisher, Pearson, invested $89.5m in Nook in January for a 5 per cent stake, but the e-reader has struggled to compete with Amazon's Kindle, the market leader.

Nook's woeful performance over Christmas appears to put further pressure on Barnes & Noble to find new investors for the unit. The software giant Microsoft already holds 16.8 per cent. But William Lynch, Barnes & Noble's chief executive, struck a defiant tone. He said: "Coming off the holiday shortfall, we're in the process of making some adjustments to our strategy as we continue to pursue the exciting growth opportunities ahead for us in the consumer and digital education content markets."