Revenue at Petra Diamonds fell in the first fiscal half amid a sluggish market and a weak comparison with the same period a year ago, when the miner sold extra goods it had deferred.
Sales dropped 30% year on year to $115 million for the six months that ended December 31, the company said Monday. Sales volume decreased 28% to 1.1 million carats, while the average price slipped 2.8% to $103 per carat. Much of the decline stemmed from an additional $50 million of revenue realized during the same period a year earlier, when Petra deferred 456,000 carats in goods from the end of fiscal 2023 to the first half of fiscal 2024, the miner explained.
The company reported a net loss of $69 million for the first half, a wider deficit than its $11 million loss a year ago. It attributed a portion of the loss to $30 million earmarked for work on extending its Cullinan and Finsch deposits in South Africa. That figure would have been higher had Petra not completed the sale of its Koffiefontein site, which enabled it to avoid $23 million in closure-related costs, it said.
At Petra’s fourth tender of the year, which included output from its recently sold Williamson mine in Tanzania, revenue plunged 45% to $39 million from the previous tender, which took place in December. Sales volume at the February tender fell 32% to 476,265 carats, as the average price slid 18% to $83 per carat. Like-for-like prices fell 6% during the period.
As a result of the slowdown in demand at the most recent tender, Petra has slashed its pricing forecast for fiscal 2025. It now expects prices for Cullinan rough to fetch between $110 and $120 per carat, compared with its original forecast of $120 to $130 per carat. Meanwhile, the miner maintained its pricing outlook at $70 to $80 per carat for rough from Finsch and $170 to $200 per carat for its remaining inventory of Williamson diamonds.
The company’s net debt increased to $215 million as of December 31 from $193 million on June 30.
Separately, Petra announced that Richard Duffy would step down as CEO, effective immediately, by mutual agreement. Vivek Gadodia, the miner’s chief restructuring officer, and Juan Kemp, operations executive at the Cullinan mine, will take over as joint interim CEOs. Gadodia will assume responsibility for all corporate matters, while Kemp will be in charge of operations. Both will report to the company’s board of directors. At this point, they will not be appointed as directors, Petra noted.
Image: A truck hauling ore at the Cullinan mine. (Petra Diamonds)
