Bulgari’s sales in home country Italy seem to have slackened by 14.8 percent, and in the US by 9 percent reports Bloomberg. During the first quarter of 2008, net sales for the company scaled by 3 percent to amount to $358 million, while net profit dipped by 4.6 percent to $35.2 million.

Bulgari is reported to have gained some strength from some markets Germany and Asian markets outside Japan. Bulgari’s sales in the three-month period rose by 6.4 percent in Asia, 2.7 percent in Europe, 0.7 percent in Japan and 11.4 percent in the Middle East. The company had raised prices of its gold jewellery due to surging gold prices.