Its getting there......

PDL
Petra Diamonds shares fell 4 percent on Tuesday after the miner said it had experienced labour disruption overnight at its Finsch mine and Kimberley Ekapa Mining JV operations in South Africa.

Members of South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) are on strike over pay, regional secretary Cornelius Manhe said, after more than 600 members downed tools on Monday.

The London-listed miner had warned on Monday that there could be labour unrest as it finalises a new wage agreement for its operations in South Africa, sending its shares down 7 percent on the day.

It also said on Monday that it had resumed operations at its Williamson mine in Tanzania after a four-day stoppage, adding that its full-year production target remains unchanged.

Petra Diamonds had halted operations at the mine last week after the Tanzanian government seized a consignment of diamonds and questioned Petra personnel as part of a crackdown on the mining sector.

StockMarketWire.com
Petra Diamonds downgraded full-year production guidance and said its earnings would fall short of market expectations.

Output for the year was now expected at 4.6m-to-4.7m carrots, down from previous guidance of 4.8m-to-5.0m, mostly due to lowered grade guidance at the Cullinan mine in South African and industrial action.

Petra diamond said Ebita for the full year was expected to around 10-15% below consensus, primarily due to the recent strengthening of the Rand.

'Petra's stated strategy is to focus on value as opposed to volume production, which is particularly pertinent to diamond operations, as not all carats are of equal value,' chief executive Johan Dippenaar said.

'Our assessment of optimal recoveries at Cullinan has therefore led us to opt for lower carat volumes, due to the positive impact that not recovering the small diamonds has on the average value per carat.'

'This has led to lowered production guidance for FY 2018, but does not materially impact our expected revenue, further to the positive uplift in Cullinan's average value per carat.'

StockMarketWire.com
Petra Diamonds swung to a first-half loss after it was dogged by industrial action and wrote down the value of its assets in South Africa.

The company booked a net loss of $117.7m, compared to a profit of $35.2m in the first half of its fiscal 2017 year.

Revenue fell slightly to $225.2m, from $228.5m.

The company booked non-cash impairment charges recognised on the carrying value of Koffiefontein and Kimberley Ekapa Mining of $118.0m, due to the effect of the strong Rand on the cost base of the assets, compounded by 'continuing operational underperformance'.

Annual revenue expectations remained in line with current consensus forecasts, the company said.

StockMarketWire.com
Petra Diamonds boosted third-quarter revenue by 44% after it produced and sold more gems.

Revenue rose to $172.0m from 1,373,771 carats sold, up from 1,069,886 carats the previous year.

Production jumped 20% to a record quarterly volume of 1,194,947 carats.

'Petra has recorded strong results in both production and sales, as well as a continued improvement in our safety performance,' chief executive Johan Dippenaar said.

'It is also important to note that the make-up of our production is transforming, with higher-value run-of-mine production representing around 82% of our carat volume. The future focus of the company will move away from volume targets to value optimisation.'

'While we are very encouraged by the operational delivery against our long-term expansion plans, risks to performance continue to relate to increased volatility in the ZAR/US$ exchange rate, grade and pricing variability at Cullinan, as well as the outlook for Williamson and the blocked diamond parcel.'

Barclays Capital today reaffirms its overweight investment rating on Petra Diamonds Ltd (LON:PDL) and cut its price target to 70p (from 85p)

Barclays Capital today reaffirms its overweight investment rating on Petra Diamonds Ltd (LON:PDL) and cut its price target to 65p (from 70p).