Harry Winston Q4 Net Loss $73 Million, Rough Diamond Sales -21%

Harry Winston Diamond Corporation reported consolidated net earnings declined 34.1 percent to $70.1 million for the year, hurt by fourth quarter net losses of $73 million.

Consolidated sales were $609.2 million for the year compared to $679.3 million for the prior year, resulting in a 13% decrease in gross margin and a

24% decrease in consolidated earnings from operations.

Rough diamond sales of $328.2 million were a 21 percent decrease from

$413.8 million in the prior year, a result of lower rough diamond production and the sharp drop in rough diamond prices in the fourth quarter. Earnings decreased 24 percent to $168.6 million, due primarily to lower sales and to a lesser degree a decrease in gross margin.

Annual rough diamond production was down 23 percent to 3.7 million carats produced.

Harry Winston’s retail segment recorded a 6% increase in sales to $281 million, with a loss from operations of $2.5 million compared to a loss from operations of $3.1 million in the prior year.