De Beers said its underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) eased 9 percent to $712 million in the first half of 2018 compared to $786 million, a year earlier, due to higher costs.
The group’s cost of production jumped 6 percent to $67 per carat driven by the impact of unfavourable exchange rate movements and waste mining costs.
De Beers’ total revenue was $3.2 billion from last year’s 3.1 billion, while rough diamond sales were maintained at $2.9 billion.
The average realised rough diamond price increased by 4 percent to $162 per carat compared with last year’s $156 per carat due to a 1.6 percent increase in the average rough price index and an improvement in the sales mix.
Meanwhile, De Beers said the outlook for 2018 global consumer demand remained positive in most of the main diamond consuming countries, based on world economic prospects, positive consumer sentiment and continued investment in marketing.
Mathew Nyaungwa, Rough&Polished