Alrosa Reports Soaring Revenue, Profits in H1

(IDEX Online) – Russian diamond miner Alrosa reported that revenue surged 27 percent on the year to $2.83 billion for the first half of 2014 ending June 30. Revenue was driven by higher diamond and gas sales.

The company reported that profit soared 58 percent to $624.4 million.

Diamond output in the first half decreased by 7 percent to 15.9 million carats, the firm reported.

The miner sold 21.1 million carats in the first six months of this year, a 10-percent fall from a year before.

The firm reported that the depreciation of the ruble, higher diamond sales volume and growth in the average price due to changes in sales mixes resulted in an increase in gem-quality rough diamond revenue in the first half.

Alrosa CEO Fyodor Andreev commented, “In H1 2014, the company delivered its best results ever. One of the drivers behind this outstanding performance was the market environment, with the Russian ruble weakening against the dollar as the key contributor to the revenue growth.

“To capture the benefits of the ruble devaluation, the company engaged in additional diamond sales from inventory as a way to improve the group’s cash flow position and, specifically, to generate additional liquidity for Eurobonds redemption in the fourth quarter of 2014.”

Cost of production soared 28 percent in the half-year due to a rise in diamond sales volume, strong depreciation, higher transport costs and extraction tax.