Large Stones Boost Gem Diamonds Results

RAPAPORT... Gem Diamonds' sales and profit increased in 2018 as the miner produceda record number of large stones at its Let??eng mine, including the 910-caratLesotho Legend. Revenue rose 25% to $267.3 million for the year, the minersaid Wednesday. Sales volume jumped 17% to 125,111 carats, a record for thecompany. The average price climbed 10% to $2,131 per carat, reflecting thelarger percentage of higher-value recoveries at the Lesotho site. Productiongrew 13% to 126,875 carats, while profit for the year more than doubled to $46.6 million, compared with $17.2 million in 2017.  "Gem Diamonds achieved a good set of results, characterizedby the recovery of 15 diamonds greater than 100 carats, a record for a singlecalendar year," said Gem Diamonds CEO Clifford Elphick. "Production in 2018also included the highest recovery of diamonds greater than 20 carats, with 80%of revenue primarily generated by diamonds greater than 10 carats." Recoveries of diamonds weighing more than 20 carats leapedto 257, a 21% increase over the 213 such stones extracted the previous year. Atotal of 44 diamonds sold for more than $1 million in 2018, achieving a valueof $137.2 million. That number includes the Lesotho Legend, which the companysold last March for $40 million. During the year, the company sold a 4.06-carat pink diamondfor $64,067 per carat - the highest per-carat price it achieved for a stone lastyear. It also sold a 138-carat white diamond, which fetched $8.4 million, or$60,428 per carat, the company's highest per-carat price for any whitestone from Let??eng in 2018. Gem Diamonds will not pay a dividend to itsinvestors, as it is focusing on strengthening its balance sheet, the companysaid. Its shares fell 6% in early trading Wednesday. Image: The Let??eng mine in Lesotho. (Gem Diamonds)