Sarine Returns to Profit in Third Quarter

RAPAPORT... Sarine Technologies recorded its first quarterly profit this year amid solid demand for its Galaxy diamond-mapping equipment. Profit for the three months ending September 30 came to $234,000.While the figure was 13% lower than during the comparable period a year ago, it followed consecutive net losses of $1.4 million in thefirst and second quarters. Revenue for the July-to-September period grew 21% year onyear to $14.2 million, as the company sold a record number of its mappingmachines for small diamonds. However, a higher proportion of the sales were from its less lucrative flat-fee plans, rather than those in which users pay per diamond scanned, which nets higher revenue, the equipment manufacturer noted. Revenue in India, Sarine's biggest market, climbed 41% to$10.4 million. North American sales more than doubled to $792,000, while inIsrael, revenue fell 12% to $587,000. Sales slid 33% to $837,000 in Africa, anddropped 63% to $231,000 in Europe. For the nine months ending September 30, group revenue fell21% to 36.7 million, with the company recording a net loss of $2.6 million forthe period. The loss stemmed from the challenging market in the first half of theyear, amid tightened bank credit to the Indian manufacturing sector, theUS-China tariff war, and weakened consumer sentiment in Hong Kong due to theongoing protests, Sarine explained. The company also attributed the loss for theJanuary-to-September period to the decline in polishing activity, as miners reducedthe quantities of rough entering the market. This dented Sarine's recurringrevenue from Galaxy scanning by 24% year on year. Image: Sarine Technologies headquarters in Hod HaSharon, Israel. (Sarine Technologies)