Blue Nile Sales Slide in Q3

Online diamond retailer Blue Nile reported third quarter net sales of $65.4 million, a decrease of 2.9 percent compared to 2007. Net income totaled $2.3 million, falling 23.33 percent year-over-year. The company cited “weakening in the economic environment” in the U.S. as the cause for the softer sales.

International sales, however, grew 53 percent to $6.9 million. Gross profit for the quarter was $13.3 million. As a percent of net sales, gross profit increased to 20.3 percent compared to 19.8 percent in the third quarter of 2007.

“Our expectation is that this will be a very challenging holiday season based on the uncertainty in the external environment and extremely cautious consumer spending trends,” said Chief Executive Diane Irvine, adding that Blue Nile will continue to gain market share.

During the quarter, the company repurchased 593,700 shares of its common stock for $23.2 million. Since the inception of the buyback program in the first quarter of 2005, the Company has repurchased 4.4 million shares for a total of $160.0 million.