Anglo American, De Beers’ parent company, has reduced the miner’s book value by $2.88 billion amid weak diamond demand.
The move, which comes just one year after a $1.56 billion write-down at the end of 2023, puts De Beers’ carrying value, or the amount recoverable should the business be sold, at $4.1 billion, Anglo American said Thursday. The work to divest De Beers from the main company is “well underway,” the conglomerate said, though it has been trying to offload the miner for nearly a year.
Meanwhile, De Beers’ rough-price index, which reflects like-for-like values, dropped 20% in 2024, it noted. Revenue slid 23% to $3.29 billion, as sales volume fell 28% to 17.9 million carats. Although the average price rose 3% to $152 per carat due to the sale of a larger proportion of high-value rough, the steep drop in smaller stones outweighed that slight increase. The company reported a net loss of $288 million for the 12-month period, a narrower decline than the $314 million loss a year earlier.
Output for the year declined 22% to 24.7 million carats amid a planned cut to production in Botswana, Canada and Namibia, in response to the prolonged slowdown in demand and higher-than-normal inventory levels in the midstream, De Beers explained. In South Africa, production increased 8% as the company progressed its transition of the Venetia deposit to underground mining.
In the fourth quarter, sales volume grew 64% year on year to 4.6 million carats, while production declined 26% to 5.8 million carats.
“Near-term market conditions are expected to remain challenging in 2025 as polished pull-through remains subdued and industry players continue to manage inventory levels,” the company said.
The miner expects to produce between 20 million and 23 million carats in 2025 as the market remains subdued. However, it will increase that amount over the following two years in anticipation of a recovery in demand. In 2026, it projected output of between 26 million and 29 million carats, while in 2027, it expects to recover 28 million to 31 million carats.
Image: Rough-diamond sorting. (Ben Perry/Armoury Films/De Beers)
