Petra records leap in revenues

1st Aug 2011 17:32

Africa-focused miner, Petra Diamonds, announced revenue had jumped 24% for the year ended 30 June 2011.Mine revenue rose to £137m and would have leapt 55 percent if the exceptional sale of the $35 million Cullinan Heritage diamond was excluded from the 2010 figures, the firm said in a trading update.Gross production was down 4% to 1,116,965 carats but the firm said this was outweighed by a significant strengthening of diamond prices.Petra cited numerous reasons for the fall in production, including a focus on 'value production' as opposed to 'volume production', commissioning difficulties at its Kimberely Underground site, and unseasonably heavy rainfall.The AIM listed diamond producer said it was on track to more than double production in 2012, and was targeting four million carats in 2014 and over five million carats by end of its 2019 financial year.Despite the claims, Petra's shares had fallen slghtly by the end of trading.The company will announce its full financial results for the period on 20 September 2011.