In the said six months, Petra Diamonds Limited saw revenues go up 48 percent to US$228.5 million (H1 FY 2016: US$154.0 million). The company’s adjusted EBITDA rose 80 percent to US$87.1 million and net profit after tax stood at US$35.2 million.
The company achieved a rise of 24 percent in production to 2,015,087 carats (H1 FY 2016: 1,629,403 carats).
The Group remains on track to deliver full year production of 4.4 - 4.6 M carats but is mindful of the potential to be towards the bottom end of this range, due to influencing factors associated with the new Cullinan plant, and will monitor this situation as commissioning progresses. Also, the company noted that signs of stabilisation in the rough diamond market are evident and Petra expects conditions to remain stable in H2 FY 2017 (January to June 2017).
“We are now reaching an exciting inflection point in the Company's development and are on track to start benefitting from a declining Capex profile, a significant increase in ROM grades and product mix, and the associated improvement in margins and cashflow. The team is highly committed to maintaining momentum and continuing to achieve operating efficiencies throughout the ramp up of each project in order to accomplish our stated goal of ca. 5.3 million carats by FY 2019, whilst upholding safety as our number one priority," added Johan Dippenaar.
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