Third quarter revenue rises 8.0 per cent at Petra Diamonds

Revenue rose 8.0 per cent to 105.7m dollars in the third quarter of the fiscal year at FTSE 250-listed independent mining group Petra Diamonds, an interim management statement revealed.

In the period from January 1st until March 31st, production rose 4.0 % to 647,248 carats driven by constrained global diamond supply and steady consumer demand.

The number of carats sold was up 7.0% to 668,193 compared to 626,958 in the third quarter of the previous year. Petra also reported that it had sold two special stones exceeding $1.0m each during the third quarter for revenue of $3.8m.

The company said it was considering the various routes to market the 25.5 carat blue diamond recovered in April 2013.

Production for the nine months to March 31st was up 20% to 1,894,767 carats and the company said that it was "on track" to meet its 2013 production target of approximately 2.65m carats.

Johan Dippenaar, Chief Executive Officer of Petra Diamonds, said: "The company has delivered a solid operational performance in the third quarter, and we are focused on achieving our stated full year production target for the fiscal year 2013.

"Likewise, we are encouraged by the firmer trend within the rough diamond market, giving a positive outlook for the remainder of this financial year."

Petra Diamonds' share price was up 0.94% to 107.30p at 10:42 on Wednesday.

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