Negative trends in the diamond market will ease in the remainder of 2024 as the inventory situation improves, Petra Diamonds predicted as it announced its full-year results.
“We acknowledge the difficult market conditions through [the fiscal year that ended June 30) and believe that prices will stabilize through to the end of [calendar year] 2024, with some improvement expected in [calendar year] 2025,” said Petra CEO Richard Duffy in the company’s results statement on Tuesday. “Ongoing discipline by producers is expected to assist in rebalancing inventory across the pipeline. We continue to see supportive market fundamentals in the medium and longer term.”
The miner postponed its August-September tender of South African goods, its first of the fiscal year, to support producers’ efforts at restricting supply during the market downturn.
Petra’s revenue increased 13% year on year to $367 million for the 12 months ending June 30 despite the slow market. The results reflected the deferral of certain parcels from its June 2023 sales to August 2023 as well as the ramp-up of the Williamson mine in Tanzania to full production.
Sales volume rose 36% to 3.2 million carats for the financial year, outweighing a 17% drop in the average price to $116 per carat. This reflected a 12% decline in like-for-like prices, with the rest due to changes in product mix.
Still, the company’s net loss after tax deepened to $107 million, compared with $102 million for the previous year.
Petra also said it drew down around $47 million from its revolving credit facility because of the August-September tender deferral. The company expects to repay the amounts after its October tender closes.
Image: The Williamson mine in Tanzania. (Petra Diamonds)
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