8th Apr 2021 16:39
(Alliance News) - Gemfields Group Ltd announced on Thursday that it had generated revenue of USD58.9 million from an online ruby auction, conducted from March 15 to April 8.
The London and Johannesburg-listed gemstone supplier said the figure is its third highest auction result to date and saw 52 companies placing bids with 95% of the number of lots being sold.
Operations at Gemfields's Montepuez ruby mine in Mozambique were suspended from April 2020 to March 2021, with no revenue realised there for 2020.
The rubies sold at the auction were all extracted from the mine before April 2020, and were sold at an average price of USD171.33 per carat.
Gemfields' Managing Director of Product & Sales Adrian Banks said, "We are very encouraged by the strong appetite from our clients and by the prices realised. As a result of the fall-out from the Covid-19 pandemic, this auction was also our first since December 2019, meaning we realised no sales at all for some 15 months. We're truly delighted to be back in business after the lengthy pause in both mining and sales."
Last week,for 2020 Gemfields reported a decline in revenue to USD34.6 million, leading to a pretax loss of USD99.2 million, swinging from a profit of USD67.4 million in 2019.
Shares in Gemfields were up 2.1% at 7.15 pence in London on Thursday afternoon, while its Johannesburg shares had closed 3.7% higher at ZAR1.40.
By Will Paige; [email protected]
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