Petra Diamonds has announced a 64 per cent increase in production to 953,553 carats in its first results since moving to London's main market. The rise in output was mainly due to the completion of the Finsch acquisition last September, with production coming onstream immediately thereafter. With Finsch expected to produce one million carats over the full financial year, Petra remains well on course to achieve its production targets of two million carats in the 12 months to June 2012 and five million carats by 2019.
Sales in the latest trading period were impacted by around 275,000 produced carats remaining unsold, primarily due to the Finsch acquisition and an early cut-off before the December holiday period. However, second-half sales are expected to increase significantly following the release of this stock and with the benefit of a full six months' contribution from the Finsch mine. The outlook for diamond prices remains positive, too. Prices fell from their highs last July, but stabilised at the end of November. Petra's first tender this year achieved "slightly stronger" prices, generating $44m (£28m) from the sale of around 300,000 carats.
The reported results include an unrealised $35.7m foreign exchange loss, of which around $16m has since reversed. Bank of America Merrill Lynch's forecast full-year EPS of 3¢, rising to 18¢ in the year to June 2013, subject to review post results.
| PETRA DIAMONDS (PDL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 150p | MARKET VALUE: | £750m | |
| TOUCH: | 149-150p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 191p | LOW: 93p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | Nil | PE RATIO: | 282 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 121¢ | NET DEBT: | 6% | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 90 | 26.8 | 6.79 | nil |
| 2011 | 101 | -31.8 | -5.20 | nil |
| % change | +13 | - | - | - |
£1=£1.585 | ||||
