Alrosa-Nyurba Posts $19 Million Loss in H1

Alrosa subsidiary Alrosa-Nyurba posted a 597.5 million rubles ($19 million) loss for the first six months of 2009. The company, a diamond miner, posted a net profit of 1.659 billion rubles ($52.5 million) in the first half of 2008, according to Interfax.

Alrosa-Nyurba pinned the downturn on the global drop in demand for diamonds, followed by a sharp drop in prices. Sales by the company declined 53.5 percent year-over-year to 3.773 billion rubles ($119.3 million).

Operating losses totaled 641.284 million rubles ($20.3 million) in the period, compared with a profit of 2.443 billion rubles ($77.3 million) in 2008.