Dominion Diamond Corp See Slight Drop in Revenue in Q1
June 07, 13
(IDEX Online News) – Dominion Diamond Corp, formerly Harry Winston Diamond Corp, posted a 1.2-percent decline on the year in revenue to $108.8 million in its first fiscal quarter ending April 30. 
The Diavik mine.
It posted profit for the quarter of $500 million due to the impact of the sale of its Harry Winston Inc. division to the Swatch Group for $746 million and which led to a net gain of $497.6 million. The sale was finalized on March 26.
A further significant development in the first quarter was Dominion's acquisition of BHP Billiton's 80-percent stake in the Ekati diamond mine in Canada for $553 million finalized on April 10.
Included in consolidated sales were $88.9 million for the Diavik diamond mine and $19.9 million for the Ekati diamond mine.
Diavik sales were consistent with the prior quarter, the firm said. The 29-percent increase in achieved rough diamond prices as compared to the prior quarter was offset by a 23-percent decrease in volume of carats sold during the quarter.
Diavik rough diamond production during the first calendar quarter was 21-percent higher than the comparable quarter of the prior year.
The quarter began with a stable market for both rough and polished diamonds as a result of improved market conditions at the end of fiscal 2013, the company said in a statement. Strong polished diamond sales encouraged manufacturers to increase their purchases of rough diamonds at a time of reduced supply, pushing rough diamond prices upwards during the first quarter.
"Rough diamond supply was impacted by delivery problems at certain diamond mines combined with lower than expected Russian rough diamond supply. However, with the exception of high demand in the lower-priced ranges, polished diamond prices remained flat, restricting the upward movement in rough diamond prices at the end of the quarter.
"The retail jewelry market outlook remains positive, led by the resilient US market. The East Asian and Indian markets were less positive but the market still anticipates resurgence in demand in the second half of the year as retailers there restock. At the recent show in Basel, Switzerland, better-quality, larger goods sold well, but less interest was evident in the smaller sizes of polished goods commonly used in watches," the firm added.