Barnes & Noble Q2 profit falls but beats expectations

New York City Barnes & Noble said Thursday its second-quarter profit fell 27%, but results beat analyst expectations as the company cut costs.

Profit for the three months ended Aug. 1 fell to $12.3 million, from $16.8 million last year. Selling and administrative expenses fell 4% during the quarter to $288.7 million.

Revenue fell 5% to $1.16 billion, matching analyst expectations. Same-store sales fell 6.9% during the quarter.

CEO Steve Riggio said the decline in retail traffic continues to hurt revenue but noted that online traffic increased slightly from a year ago.