12th Mar 2015 09:36
LONDON (Alliance News) - Firestone Diamonds PLC Thursday said its pretax loss narrowed in the first half after putting the pilot plant at the Liqhobong mine on care and maintenance, which significantly reduced the company's losses compared to a year earlier.
The diamond miner focused on the Liqhobong mine in Lesotho reported a pretax loss of USD4.4 million for the six months ended December 31, narrowed from USD7.7 million in the first half of 2013.
Results for the comparative period in the first half of 2013 included USD4.5 million of operational losses incurred from Liqhobong's pilot plant which operated for the first four months of that reporting period before being placed on care and maintenance in October 2013, meaning Firestone generated no revenue or gross losses in the first half of the current financial year.
The company also reduced corporate expenses to USD1.6 million from USD2.2 million whilst amortisation and depreciation charges fell to USD107,000 from USD470,000 a year earlier. It also recorded no selling and distribution costs in the period, compared to USD513,000 a year earlier when the plant was running.
During the period, the company recorded a USD2.1 million loss on foreign exchange due to the weakening of the pound against the dollar. No such loss or gain was recorded a year earlier.
The Liqhobong mine is currently being constructed and connected to the power grid, and Firestone is expecting to begin initial production at the end of the first-half in 2016.
"We are pleased to report on the last six months in which Liqhobong has moved from the concept of a large scale, tier one diamond mine, to construction," said Chief Executive Stuart Brown. "All major construction contracts have been finalised and good progress has been made to date. The project remains on schedule to achieve initial production at the end of the first half of 2016."
At the end of the period, Firestone reported a cash balance of USD47.3 million.
Firestone shares were up 1.1% to 32.10 pence per share on Thursday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
FDI.L