Petra Diamonds Records Production Rise of 21% in Fiscal 2013

(IDEX Online News) – Petra Diamonds reported that production rose 21 percent on the year to 2,668,305 carats in its 2013 fiscal year, slightly above the revised market guidance of 2.65 million carats.

The miner expects production in fiscal 2014 of 2.9 million carats to 3 million carats, with detailed guidance to follow on August 12.

Revenue jumped 27 percent to $402.7 million from $316.9 million.

Petra said that diamond debtors, as a result of increased volumes and the company’s largest tender to date shortly before the end of its fiscal year, were $75.0 million compared with $24.5 million a year earlier.

Diamond inventories, due to increased production, were around $35.0 million from about $24.3 million in the previous year.

Capital expenditure was $201.2 million from $138.0 million a year before which was “in line with expectations and in accordance with the roll-out of the group’s expansion programs”.

Cash on hand as of year end was $26.2 million from $37.4 million a year before.

Johan Dippenaar, CEO of Petra Diamonds, said: “This is another solid result for Petra, as the company continues to deliver further significant production increases and revenue growth. Our capital expenditure for the year reflects the ongoing roll out of our expansion plans. We remain on track to deliver on our growth plans to reach annual production of circa five million carats by FY 2019.”