First Day of Dealings on the Main Market

RNS Number : 3705U

Petra Diamonds Ld

21 December 2011

 



 

21 December 2011

LSE: PDL

Petra Diamonds Limited

("Petra" or "the Company" or "the Group")

 

First Day of Dealings on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange

Sale of Blue Diamond for +US$300k per Carat

Petra Diamonds Limited announces that its shares will today be admitted, with a premium listing, to the Official List of the United Kingdom Listing Authority ("UKLA") and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's Main Market ("Main Market") (together, "Admission"). Dealings in the Company's ordinary shares will commence on the Main Market today at 8.00 a.m. GMT and cancellation of trading in the ordinary shares on AIM will take place simultaneously.

The prospectus, prepared by the Company in connection with Admission, is available free of charge at the office of Memery Crystal LLP, 44 Southampton Buildings, London WC2A 1AP during normal business hours and on the Company's website www.petradiamonds.com.

Sale of blue diamond for record price per carat

In addition, Petra announces that at its most recent tender in early December it sold a 4.8 carat blue diamond (produced from the Cullinan mine) for US$1.45 million, equivalent to over US$300,000 per carat. This is the highest amount achieved on a per carat basis for any rough diamond sold by the Company. Petra is also confident that it is one of the highest values per carat ever achieved on the sale of a rough diamond by any rough diamond producer. Cullinan is renowned as the world's only reliable source of blue diamonds and this sale demonstrates how rare and desirable they are to the international market.

Main Market step up

Petra's step up, with a premium listing, to the Main Market is another important development in the Company's progress, underscoring the success of the Company's transformation from a junior diamond exploration company to become a leading independent diamond producer.

Since 2007, Petra has acquired five important 'kimberlite pipe' diamond mines from De Beers, being (in chronological order) Koffiefontein (South Africa), Cullinan (South Africa), Williamson (Tanzania), Kimberley Underground (South Africa) and Finsch (South Africa).  The compilation of this portfolio of quality assets has seen the Group record the following growth from FY 2007 to FY 2011:

·     resources have risen from 9 million carats to over 300 million carats, giving the Group one of the world's largest diamond resources;

·     annual production has risen from ca. 180,000 carats to over 1.1 million carats per annum;

·     revenue has increased from US$17.0 million to US$220.6 million; and

·     profit after tax has grown from a loss of US$20.9 million to US$59.2 million.

The Directors believe that the listing of Petra's ordinary shares on the premium segment of the Official List and trading of Petra's ordinary shares on the Main Market provides the appropriate platform for the Company's continued growth, allowing a broader range of investors, seeking direct exposure to the positive long term fundamentals of the diamond market, to invest in the Company.

Adonis Pouroulis, Chairman of Petra, commented:

"Over the last few years, Petra's rapid development has seen the Company grow to become London's largest quoted diamond mining group. We have compiled a world class portfolio of long life assets, which produce some of the world's most spectacular diamonds, as evidenced by the sale of the Cullinan blue for over US$300,000 per carat. Our core objective is to continue to deliver substantial growth over the coming years, as we steadily increase annual production to over 5 million carats by FY 2019, placing Petra in a strong position to benefit from the long term supply/demand fundamentals of the rough diamond market."

For further information, please contact:

Petra Diamonds, London	Telephone: [phone]
Cathy Malins	[e-mail]

Buchanan (PR Adviser)	Telephone: [phone]
Bobby Morse James Strong	[e-mail] [e-mail]

RBC Capital Markets (Sponsor and Joint Broker)	Telephone: [phone]
Joshua Critchley	[e-mail]
Martin Eales	[e-mail]

Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker)	Telephone: [phone]
Rob Collins	[e-mail]
Andrew Chubb	[e-mail]

About Petra Diamonds Limited

Petra Diamonds is a leading independent diamond mining group and an increasingly important supplier of rough diamonds to the international market. The Company has a well-diversified portfolio, with interests in eight producing mines: seven in South Africa (Finsch, Cullinan, Koffiefontein, Kimberley Underground, Helam, Sedibeng and Star) and one in Tanzania (Williamson).

Petra offers an exceptional growth profile, with a core objective to steadily increase annual production to over 5 million carats by FY 2019. The Group has a major resource base in excess of 300 million carats.

Petra conducts all its operations according to the highest ethical standards and will only operate in countries which are members of the Kimberley Process.

For more information, visit the Company's website at www.petradiamonds.com.

About Cullinan Diamonds

Cullinan has a special place in the history of diamonds as it remains the source of the world's largest gem diamond ever recovered, the 'Cullinan' diamond at 3,106 carats rough.  It was cut to form the 530 carat Great Star of Africa and the 317 carat Lesser Star of Africa, set in the Crown Jewels of Britain, seven other significant large stones and 96 smaller brilliants.

It is renowned as a regular source of large diamonds and frequently yields diamonds larger than 10 carats.  Furthermore it has produced over 700 stones weighing more than 100 carats, and around a quarter of all of the world's diamonds weighing more than 400 carats.  Notable diamonds from Cullinan include the Golden Jubilee (755 carats rough), the De Beers Centenary (599 carats rough), the Niarchos (426 carats rough), the Premier Rose (353 carats rough), and the famous Taylor-Burton diamond (69 carats polished).  Since Petra acquired the mine in 2008, it has recovered the Cullinan Heritage (507 carats rough), which was sold in February 2010 for US$35 million, being the highest price on record for a rough diamond.

Cullinan is also the world's only significant, reliable source of blue diamonds and in 2000, a collection of 11 rare blue diamonds from the mine was displayed at London's Millennium Dome, alongside the Millennium Star. This exquisite collection included the fancy vivid blue 'Heart of Eternity' (27 carats polished). In addition to the 4.8 carat blue sold by Petra in December 2011, the Company has recovered other world-class blue diamonds from Cullinan, including a 39 carat blue which sold for US$8.8 million, and a 26 carat blue diamond which Petra cut into a 7 carat, flawless, fancy vivid blue (being the highest possible grading for a polished blue diamond). This perfect gem was sold for US$9.4 million and was renamed the 'Star of Josephine' by its owner.

 

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