LAKELAND, Fla. — Rising internal costs and a struggling customer base combined to send net income down by 18.9% in the third quarter at Publix Super Markets, the retailer here said Monday. Publix said sales for the quarter improved 3.7% to $5.8 billion, with comparable-store sales rising by 1.2%. Net earnings, however, fell to $201.8 million from $249 million in the same period a year ago. Publix stock, which is not publicly traded, decreased from $19.70 per share to $17.90 per share based on assessed value. “In these tough times our costs are continuing to rise while many customers are struggling to make ends meet. So our results and our stock price were significantly affected by this difficult operating environment,” Ed Crenshaw, chief executive officer, said in a statement. For the nine-month year-to-day, sales of $17.9 billion are up 4.4% while net earnings of $840.7 million are down by 3.7%.

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