27th Jul 2015 07:11
LONDON (Alliance News) - Petra Diamonds Ltd Monday said revenue fell by around 10% in the last financial year due to lower diamond prices.
The FTSE 250-listed miner said production in the year ended June 30 was up 2% to 3.2 million carats from 3.1 million carats but said revenue fell by 10% to USD425.0 million from USD471.8 million as average diamond prices fell and because of the "very mature nature" of its production assets.
Looking forward into 2016, Petra is expecting production to experience a 3% to 6% lift to between 3.3 million to 3.4 million carats and said it is on track to hit 5.0 million carats per year in the year due to end June 30, 2019.
Petra said it expects diamond prices in 2016 to remain in line with the prices achieved in the second half of the 2015 financial year but its on-mine cash costs for its South African operations are expected to rise by around 8% in 2016 whilst its Tanzanian operations will see a 4% rise.
In 2015, Petra spent a total of ZAR2.70 billion, or USD235.8 million in capital expenditure, which was down from the ZAR2.00 billion, or USD193 million spent a year earlier.
In 2016, capital expenditure is expected to rise to ZAR3.45 billion, which takes into account the new Cullinan plant expenditure of ZAR950 million which was not included in its previous guidance, it said.
At the end of June 2015, Petra reported a cash balance of USD166.2 million whilst net debt stood at USD172.1 million. The company said it has a "strong balance sheet", is fully funded and has financial flexibility.
Petra shares were down 0.7% to 140.80 pence per share on Monday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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