Blue Nile Sets First Quarter Sales Record

Blue Nile, Inc. reported Thursday that net sales for the first quarter of 2011 increased 8.3 percent to $80.2 million, a first quarter record for the diamond and fine jewelry online retailer. Operating income for the quarter totaled $3.5 million. Net income totaled $2.4 million.

"We delivered record first quarter sales reflecting the strength of our consumer proposition and our relentless focus on perfecting the customer experience,” said Diane Irvine, Blue Nile CEO. “We remain focused on our key objective of building our business in the U.S. and internationally by investing in growth initiatives from product innovation and marketing to continued enhancement of the Blue Nile experience.”

First quarter financial highlights include:

* International sales grew 34.4 percent to $12.9 million, a record level for any first quarter in the company's history. Excluding the impact from changes in foreign exchange rates, international sales increased 28.1 percent.

* Gross profit for the quarter totaled $16.9 million, an increase of 7.1 percent. As a percent of net sales, gross profit was 21.1 percent compared to 21.3 percent for the first quarter of 2010.

* Selling, general and administrative expenses for the quarter were $13.4 million, compared to $12.2 million in the first quarter of 2010. This figure includes stock-based compensation expense of $1.7 million, compared to $1.8 million in the first quarter of the prior year.

The Seattle-based company in its guidance said it expects In its second quarter net sales to be between $82 and $85 million.

Bulgari 3Q Sales Up 15%, Jewelry Sales Up 14%, Watch Sales Down 11%

Italian luxury jeweler Bulgari SpA said Thursday that third quarter sales increased 15 percent year-over-year to 267.9 million euros ($366.7 million). At constant exchange rates (excluding currency fluctuations and other conditions) sales rose 5 percent for the period, ended Sept. 30.


Net profit for the period increased 138 percent year-over-year to 16.6 million euros ($22.7 million) for the Rome-based company.


Third-quarter jewelry sales rose 13.7 percent year-over-year (24.2% at constant exchange rates) due to the excellent sales performance of its B.zero1 line and the Serpenti collection. Watch sales fell 10.9 percent (down 1.8 percent at constant exchange rates). However, the company said it was not a fair comparison since delivery of new products this year began in September and continued in the three subsequent months, while last year the new launches were available starting in the second quarter. In October, watch sales grew by 6 percent. The company said that the women’s Serpenti watch collection had an “excellent reaction.” The steel version was available in stores in September, followed by the gold version at the end of October. 


The company also said October wholesale sales were greater than what was recorded in directly owned stores, which confirms the recovery of this distribution channel after last year's massive de-stocking. The company noted that the new Bulgari Roth and Genta models unveiled this year in Basel were “remarkably well-received by customers in directly owned stores.”


Perfume sales fell 4.1 percent for the period. (3.5% at constant exchange rates) but began to rise again in October, recording an increase of 5 percent. Accessories sales increased 35.3 percent (54.8 percent at constant exchange rates).


Sales in Europe for the third quarter rose 11 percent year-over-year, with sales in Italy up 24.4 percent. Sales in America fell 7.4 percent. The sales trend in America, however, adjusted to take into account the normal volatility of high-end jewelry, recorded a growth of 6.4 percent. In Asia, Japan sales show continued weakness, down 1.1 percent, while the rest of Asia grew 15.4 percent for the period. In China, sales grew 24.3 percent for the period. Sales in the Middle East and other areas fell 1.5 percent. However, this is an improvement compared to second quarter sales decline of 10.8 percent.


“I am satisfied with the third quarter results—particularly with the excellent performance of jewelry and accessories and the notable improvement in profitability—which are in line with our plans and clearly show that the company is continuing to improve, both in terms of product and image and in terms of investment control, indebtedness, inventory and costs,” said Francesco Trapani, Bulgari Group CEO.

Richemont Sales Up 37%, Jewelry Sales Up 32%, Watch Sales Up 38%

Richemont headquarters

Luxury goods group Cie. Financiere Richemont said Friday that year-over-year sales for the six months of 2010 increased 37 percent to 3.26 billion euros ($4.47 billion). At constant exchange rates (excluding currency fluctuations and other conditions) the increase was 27 percent for the period ended September 30. When removing the company’s recent acquisition of Internet retailer Net-A-Porter.com, sales increased by 22 percent.

The Geneva-based company said the strong growth in sales reflects, in part, low comparative figures in the prior period, when reported Group sales decreased by 15 percent.

Profit for the period rose 87 percent to 644 million euros ($883 million) and operating profit increased by 95 percent.

Its jewelry business (which includes Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Piaget) saw its sales increase 32 percent to 1.69 billion euros ($2.31 billion) for the period. Both Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels saw double-digit sales growth, Richemont said.

Watch sales (which include Vacheron Constantin, Baume & Mercier, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Lange & Söhne and IWC) rose 38 percent to 901 million euros ($1.23 billion).

Overall Group sales as measured by constant exchange rates increased 37 percent in the Americas, 36 percent in Asia-Pacific, 23 percent in Europe and 4 percent in Japan.

Johann Rupert, Richemont executive chairman and CEO, stressed that the strong sales figures benefited from favorable exchange rates and better economic conditions when compared to the post-recession prior year and cautioned that growth may slow during the second half of the year.

“The good performance achieved by Richemont in the first half of this year has been driven by a marked improvement in all business areas and across all geographies compared to the depressed levels seen last year,” Rupert said. “Richemont’s Maisons were able to benefit fully from this improved trading environment, further enhancing their leading positions in jewelry, watchmaking, writing instruments and accessories. … The robust sales momentum that the Group has seen for several months has continued through to the end of October; sales for the month were 36 per cent above those of October 2009 at actual exchange rates.”

He added, “For the second half of the financial year, we expect the high rate of growth in sales seen in the year to date to slow as a consequence of exchange rate movements and the more challenging prior year comparatives.”