Petra Diamonds Posts Big Rise in Output

(IDEX Online) – Petra Diamonds posted a 15-percent rise in production to 743,424 carats for its third fiscal quarter that ended on March 31.

The miner said that production for the nine months to March 31 jumped 26 percent to 2,379,140 carats.

The company added that it is "firmly on track" to meet its 2014 production target of around 3.0 million carats.

Revenue for the third quarter soared by 55 percent to $163.9 million, including a 29.6-carat blue diamond which was sold for $25.6 million.

Revenue is weighted towards the second half of the financial year due to the usual seasonal timing of Petra's diamond sales, and two more tenders are to take place by the end of the firm's financial year.

There was a "strong start to the calendar year for the rough diamond market, with prices achieved by Petra up around 10 percent; Petra expects the market to consolidate around current price levels for the remainder of FY 2014". 

Johan Dippenaar, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Petra continues to deliver further production and revenue growth, and these results demonstrate that the company is firmly on track to meet its full year target of circa 3 million carats. The diamond market has had an encouragingly strong start to 2014, further underpinning Petra's positive outlook for the remainder of the 2014 financial year."