Petra Diamonds sees strong market

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Published Feb 20, 2014

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Petra Diamonds Ltd said it expected a strong market for rough diamonds to continue and that it would consider initiating a dividend from financial year 2016.

Petra, which has five producing mines in South Africa and one in Tanzania, said adjusted core earnings jumped 157 percent to $65.8 million for the six months ended December 31.

Revenue grew 19 percent to $185.5 million.

Carat sales were expected to be significantly higher in the second half due to the seasonal timing of its tenders, the company said.

Earlier this month Petra sold a 29.6 carat blue diamond mined at its Cullinan mine in South Africa for $25.6 million to US luxury jeweller Cora International NY.

The sale is expected to boost its results for the second half of the year.

The diamond miner said first-half production jumped 31 percent to 1.635 million carats.

Petra maintained its production outlook of about 3 million carats for the year ended June 30, 2014. - Reuters

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