Petra Diamonds reports marginal 1% revenue increase

Petra Diamonds has reported a 1% increase in revenue, despite a fall in the price of rough diamonds in the first half of 2016.

In its preliminary results for the year ending 30 June, the company reported revenue of $430.9m (£328.5m) compared with the $425m (£324m) recorded last year.

The company said this was mainly due to an increase in volumes sold – most notably tailings carats sold from the newly established Kimberley Ekapa Mining operation – but this was partially offset by softer diamond prices during the year.

Rough diamond prices on a like-for-like basis were down 6% for the year, when compared with Petra’s 2015 financial results. However, it did say the market is showing signs of recovery and stabilisation during the second half of 2016.

Petra’s full-year production was up 16% to 3.7 million carats, up from the 3.2 million carats produced last year and above the company guidance of 3.6 to 3.65 million carats.

Looking forward, the company hopes to produce 4.6 to 4.8 million carats in its next full-year results and 5 million carats by its full-year 2018 results.

Johan Dippenaar, CEO, said: “Petra has recorded further strong growth, leading to record production levels for the year and the expectation that the group will reach its long-stated target of ca. 5 million carats by [full-year] 2018, a year earlier than previously anticipated.”