World number one diamond miner De Beers is disappointed by the fall in the group’s interim earnings and headline earnings, De Beers managing director Gary Ralfe said on Monday.
Global resources group Anglo American has a 45% stake in De Beers.
Earlier on Monday, De Beers earnings for the half-year to June 2005 were $345-million, 8% lower than the equivalent period in 2004, and headline earnings were 21% lower at $336-million.
In the second half of 2005, De Beers is expecting its marketing arm the Diamond Trading Company to generate revenue of $3,2-billion, similar to first half’s $3,220-million, for total financial year revenue of $6,4-billion, which would be a record.
Ralfe said that the pipeline for diamonds was good, with the rough diamond market being strong to very strong.
During the half-year, De Beers’ diamond stocks and other assets rose to $1,853-billion from $1,357-billion at the end of December 2004. Diamond stocks
levels rose by $400-million during the half year, the group said.
In the interim period, De Beers saw diamond production of 23,7-million carats, up 23% from the previous half-year, with the group not expecting any “nasty surprises” in the second half, but matching the first half production would be a “tall order”, said De Beers financial director Paddy Kell.
The key reason for the strong increase in De Beers’ interim production was the poor production in the first half of 2004, when De Beers was 20% behind budget, compared to 5% ahead of budget this time, Kell added.
The strong increase was largely due to Debswana, which is a 50-50 joint venture between De Beers and the Botswana government, which saw diamond production of 15,3-million carats in the six-month period.
De Beers’ South African diamond mining operations saw production of 7,4-million carats, up 19% on the first half of 2004, Ralfe said.
Ralfe said that De Beers was not planning to increase rough diamond prices for at least the next three months. During 2005, the DTC has raised rough diamond prices by a total of 6%.
The DTC was unlikely to increase rough diamond prices before November, Ralfe said.
Last week, the Chinese revalued the yuan by 2,1% against the United States dollar. Ralfe said that the revaluation of the yuan was so minor that it was likely to be absorbed with little effect on the diamond market. – I-Net Bridge