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LJ International Inc. – JADE – Announces Second Quarter and First Half 2012 Unaudited Financial Results

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LJ International Inc. (NASDAQ: JADE), a leading colored gemstone and diamond jeweler with retail and wholesale businesses, today announced its unaudited financial results for the second quarter and first half year ended June 30, 2012.

JADE Second Quarter 2012:

  • Retail revenue was US$27.76 million, up 3% year-over-year.
  • ENZO added 17 new stores.
  • Comparable store sales decreased by 27% year-over-year, on top of a 61% increase last year.
  • Wholesale revenue was US$14.99 million, up 14% year-over-year.
  • Sales from the U.S. up 6% year-over-year, representing 66% of wholesale revenue. Sales from Europe, and Asia and other markets increased 37% and 24%, respectively, representing 25% and 9% of wholesale revenue, respectively.

JADE First Half 2012:

  • Retail revenue was US$64.48 million, up 23% year-over-year.
  • ENZO added 23 retail stores, expanding the retail network to 225 stores at the end of June 2012. Among the new stores, 4, 12 and 7 are in tier one, tier two and tier three cities, respectively.
  • Wholesale revenue was US$30.48 million up 6% year-over-year.
  • Sales from the U.S. decreased 3%, representing 65% of wholesale revenue. Sales from Europe and Asia and other markets increased 35% and 13% year-over-year, respectively, representing 27% and 8% of wholesale revenue, respectively.

Yu-Chuan Yih, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LJ International, commented on the results. “In the face of a bleak global economy and decelerated Chinese economic growth, the jewelry sector has seen a prominent slowdown in the second quarter, especially in discretionary gem set items, and has affected the industry as a whole. As a jeweler with close to half our revenue exposure in gem-set jewelry, we felt a greater impact than jewelers with a higher proportion on gold jewelry.”

“We responded to this challenge on multiple fronts. First, we cut our marketing expenses to below 6% over sales. Second, we developed and launched more diamond and gem-set jewelry at a lower entry price point range to capture a broader segment of consumers and sustain a similar margin profile to protect our profitability. Third, we realigned our stores by replacing the non-performing stores with new openings in much better locations which carried a broader appeal. With our core competencies of innovative design and craftsmanship, we achieved across-the-board revenue growth in all markets for our wholesale business, resulting in a performance in line with our expectations.

About LJ International Inc. – JADE

LJ International Inc. (JADE) is engaged in the designing, branding, marketing and distribution of its full range of jewelry. JADE has built its global business on a vertical integration strategy, and an unwavering commitment to quality and service. Through its China-based ENZO retail chain stores, JADE is now a major presence in China’s fast-growing retail jewelry market.

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edliston
Post Written By: Ed Liston
Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.

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Ed Liston

Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing.

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