Aug. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Netflix Inc., the largest U.S. mail- order movie service, said it has resumed shipping from all distribution centers after ``severe technical issues'' caused delays for three days.

The company will give affected customers, about 30 percent of Netflix's 8.4 million, a 15 percent credit on their next monthly bill, spokesman Steve Swasey said in an interview. He declined to comment on the financial effect of the refund.

Netflix started shipping from some distribution centers late yesterday, after experiencing delays and outages since Aug. 12, Swasey said. It was the second time the company has been unable to send movies through the mail in its more than 10-year history.

``Nobody's been less pleased about this than Netflix,'' Swasey said. The company is ``doing a deep analysis'' of what caused the problem, he said. He declined to say what caused the breakdown.

The glitch may reduce revenue by about $5.6 million, said Lloyd Walmsley, an analyst with Thomas Weisel Partners LLC, in an interview today. The effect on earnings per share could be ``neutral to negative three cents, and that depends on how many of the shipments were interrupted,'' he said.

Roku

Netflix gave some customers a 5 percent credit on their monthly statements in March after its Web site went down for 11 hours, hindering shipments.

An update has been posted on the company's online community forum and e-mails are being sent to members, Swasey said.

The Web site wasn't affected by the shipping delays, so movies have been available online and to subscribers with the Roku set-top box that enables video streaming.

The Netflix outages follow similar delays at J.Crew Group Inc. last month, which led Chief Executive Officer Millard Drexler to tell customers: ``We let you down.'' J.Crew's problems occurred while the company was upgrading its Web site and call center.

The costs associated with the delays and customer refunds are one-time items, Walmsley said, not a reflection of the company's overall operations.

``The underlying business trends have been strong for Netflix for the last couple of quarters,'' the San Francisco- based Walmsley said. He recommends investors hold the shares and doesn't own any himself.

Netflix declined 58 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $31.26 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. Shares of the Los Gatos, California-based company have gained 17 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Meg Tirrell in New York at mtirrell@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 15, 2008 17:26 EDT