Sarine Technologies, a diamond technology company, has announced that its sales dropped in 2023 due to macro-economic challenges and market disruption caused by LGDs.
Group's revenue for 2023 declined 27% year-on-year to $43.0 million. At the segmental level, capital equipment sales fell by about 50% while recurring revenues declined by 3%.
Sales to India fell 27% to $22 million for the year as manufacturing demand faltered. Meanwhile, revenue from the Africa market slid 54% to $6.3 million. Sales to Europe slipped 22% to $2.7 million. Those drops outweighed growth in sales to the US of $5.1 million, compared to $842,000 the year before.
In the first half of 2023, Sarine acquired a 70% stake in the New-York based gemmological laboratory Gem Certification & Assurance Lab, Inc. (GCAL). The company expects that recurring revenues from new sources, such as expansion of grading services to India and adoption of pay-per-use diamond planning, will help drive its financials higher in 2024.
"Significantly, the market disruption caused by LGD may have peaked, as the growth trend of LGD adoption slowed in the second half of 2023. This may have been due to the sharp decline in LGD wholesale and, more importantly, retail prices," the company said in a statement.
"While it may be too early to call this a new trend, the slowdown could indicate that the natural diamond and LGD segments of the diamond jewellery market are reaching a new equilibrium."
Theodor Lisovoy, Editor in Chief of the European bureau, Rough&Polished
