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Lucara Reports Loss as Sales Slide
Nov 9, 2016 7:13 AM
By Rapaport News
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RAPAPORT... Lucara Diamond Corporation fell into the red in the third
quarter as the miner held fewer diamond sales than a year ago.
The company, which extracts diamonds from the high-value
Karowe mine in Botswana, slumped to a net loss of $3.8 million in the three
months ending September 30 from a profit of $44.2 million a year ago.
Revenue plummeted 58 percent to $38.1 million because the
company only organized one sale versus last year’s two – of which one was an
exceptional stone tender, it explained. The average selling price dived 69
percent to $332 per carat. Production fell 19 percent to 81.4 million carats.
Lucara also said it suffered a foreign exchange loss in the
quarter because the Botswanan pula has appreciated 7 percent against the dollar
this year. Last year Lucara benefited from a weaker pula.
In the first nine months of the year, sales grew 45 percent
to $229.4 million and profit crept up 1 percent to $59.5 million. The revenue
figure includes the sale of the 813-carat ‘Constellation’ diamond, which it
recovered at Karowe in November 2015 and sold
for a world-record $63.1 million in May. |
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Tags:
Botswana, Karowe, Karowe mine, lucara, Lucara Diamond Corporation, Rapaport News, Rough Diamonds
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