Lucapa growth strategy succeeds as core earnings quadruple

ASX listed diamond miner and explorer Lucapa Diamond said it continued to focus on its growth strategy with its partners by expanding operational capacities at Lulo in Angola and Mothae in Lesotho.
As a consequence of this strategy and effort, the company achieved record attributable earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the year of $16.6 million (A$22.3 million) compared to $500 000 in 2020.
The group reported a profit after tax for the year of $2.8 million in 2021 from a loss of $9.7 million, a year earlier.
It recorded revenues of A$135 million or A$2,150 per carat for the year ended 31 December 2021.
The group’s equity accounted share of Lulo’s results, after accounting for depreciation and other below-the-line items, was a $ 7.6 million profit compared to a loss of $300 000.
Lucapa said 2021 saw a quick return of and growth in consumer demand in the key diamond consumption market of North America and the emerging markets of China and India. 
“With polished inventory levels in the industry being severely depleted through the pandemic, both rough and polished diamond prices rose steeply, with rough prices increasing by over 30% on average in 2021,” it said.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished