Barnes & Noble reported its fiscal Q2 (ended August 1) results on Thursday, and although the results were as good as or better than anticipated, it’s still not a pretty pricture.  Sales were down 5% vs. the year ago period, and Barnes & Noble same store sales were down 6.9%., barely falling within the company’s guidance of a 5% to 7% same store sales decline.  That’s up from the 5.7% decline in same store sales reported in Q1 (see “Barnes & Noble Sales Decline Slows”).

Barnes & Noble reported net earnings of $12.3 million for the period, which included a $4 million one time benefit from an insurance settlement.  The company earned $16.8 million in the year ago period.

Inventory is down $108 million from a year ago, which has been causing pain at the publisher level. 

The company is still predicting full-year same store sales declines of 3% to 5%, guidance it maintained after releasing this quarterly information.