Borders posts wider-than-expected loss

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Bookseller Borders Group Inc BGP.N posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Tuesday as sales slumped.

The second-largest U.S. brick-and-mortar book retailer, behind Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N), posted a net loss of $45.6 million, or 76 cents per share, in the second quarter ended August 1, compared with a loss of $11.3 million, or 19 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, the loss was 21 cents a share. Analysts on average had forecast a loss of 16 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales fell 17.7 percent to $616.8 million.

Same-store sales, a closely watched measure of retail performance, fell 13 percent at Borders superstores, excluding multimedia products, which the company has removed from stores. Same-store sales fell 10.8 percent at its Waldenbooks stores.

Booksellers have had to contend with a lingering slump in the book industry as consumers have headed online -- especially to Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) -- to buy books.

Borders has been exiting shrinking categories like music and putting a greater focus on helping shoppers choose books. It has cut jobs, inventory and costs in the past year.

The company, which last year faced liquidity problems, has been boosting its balance sheet and cutting its debt in recent quarters. In the second quarter, debt, net of cash, was $242.5 million, down from $421.8 million a year earlier.

(Reporting by Brad Dorfman and Alexandria Sage; Editing by Derek Caney and John Wallace)