Petra Diamonds 425ct diamond

Petra’s Revenue Drops in H2 2019 Over “Outbreak of Coronavirus”

Petra Diamonds has published its sales performance for the second half of 2019 (ended December 2019), blaming its $10 million loss on a “weak market”, according to IDEX Online.

 

Cullinan diamond South Africa
Credit: Petra

 

Despite increased production at its mines, Petra’s revenue dropped 6% to $193.9 million in H2 2019 “due to a decline in rough diamond prices”. After taxes, Petra’s net loss totaled $10 million, compared with a profit of $57.9 million in the first half of the year. The miner said that “operational cash flow benefits were being eroded by a weaker diamond market, due to the outbreak of the coronavirus, which has served to significantly reduce activity across the pipeline”.

 

Cullinan diamond mine
Credit: Petra Diamonds

 

Petra’s CEO Richard Duffy said that despite these setbacks, a strong in H1 put the company “on track to achieve production guidance for the full year of circa 3.8 million carats”. Duffy added: “Sentiment around the market has significantly weakened due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, which resulted in a shutdown of retail stores over the important Chinese New Year period and the subsequent postponement of the Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem and Pearl show […]”.

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