Business
Q1 FY 2018 Trading Update
Q1 FY 2018 Trading Update.
About this update from Petra Diamonds Limited
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 2664U Petra Diamonds Limited 23 October 2017 \n\n \n \n \n \n\n\n\n\nThis announcement contains inside information\n \n23 October 2017\n\n\n \n \nLSE: PDL\n\n\n\n\n \n \nPetra Diamonds Limited\n(\"Petra\" or \"the Company\" or \"the Group\")\n \nTrading Update - Q1 FY 2018 Production and Sales Report\n \n \nPetra Diamonds Limited announces the following trading update (unaudited) for the period from\n1 July 2017 to 20 October 2017, covering production and sales from 1 July 2017 to 30 September 2017 (\"Q1 FY 2018\" or \"Q1\" or the \"Period\").\n \n \nSUMMARY\n \n· Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate (\"LTIFR\") improved to 0.24 (Q1 FY 2017: 0.28), representing an all-time low for the Company. Petra remains highly focused on managing health and safety as its most important priority.\n· Q1 production down 4% to 1,053,817 carats (Q1 FY 2017: 1,097,523 carats) mainly due to a planned reduction in tailings production at Finsch and Kimberley Ekapa Mining Joint Venture (\"KEM JV\"). Encouragingly, Q1 ROM production increased 17% to 842,809 carats (Q1 FY 2017: 720,475 carats), despite the labour disruptions experienced in September 2017 impacting ROM production by ca. 60,000 carats.\n· Q1 revenue down 17% to US$78.7 million from 711,277 carats sold (Q1 FY 2017: US$94.7 million from 745,447 carats sold, including US$10.9 million revenue from Exceptional Diamonds). No sales from Williamson in Tanzania were included, due to a parcel of diamonds from the mine being detained by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania (\"GoT\"). \n· Post Period end, the Company completed further sales of South African goods yielding US$53.1 million. As previously announced, Petra has received authorisation from the GoT to resume diamond exports and sales, and a second parcel of ca. 40,000 carats from the Williamson mine has been shipped to the Company's marketing office in Antwerp, to be sold in Q2 FY 2018. Petra continues to engage with the GoT in order to reach a satisfactory solution with regards to the first parcel of diamonds.\n· Diamond prices for Q1 on a like-for-like basis were down ca. 3% in comparison to H2 FY 2017, and by...