(IDEX Online) - De Beers posted a $102m loss for 2020 as the pandemic took its toll, compared with a $45m profit the previous year.
It's the first time it's dipped into the red since 2008, when parent company Anglo American provided an $800m rescue package of interest-free loans.
Underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) for last year fell to $2m (30 June 2019: $518m) as lower sales volumes and the lower rough price index reducing margins in both the mining and the trading businesses.
Total revenue was down 54 per cent to $1.2bn (30 June 2019: $2.6bn) and rough diamond sales fell to $1.0bn (30 June 2019: $2.3bn).
In terms of volume, rough diamond sales were down 45 per cent to 8.5m carats (30 June 2019: 15.5m carats).
Rough diamond production decreased by 27 per cent to 11.3 million carats (30 June 2019: 15.6m carats), primarily due to the Covid-19 lockdowns in southern Africa.
De Beers concludes its Interim Financial Results for 2020 with a message of hope, despite ongoing uncertainty over the pandemic.
"In the longer term, the outlook for the diamond sector remains positive, and De Beers is accelerating its business transformation - from discovery and mining, to how we sell rough diamonds to customers and how consumers purchase diamond jewellery," it says.
"Production guidance remains unchanged at 25-27m carats, subject to continuous review based on the disruptions to operations as a result of Covid-19, as well as the timing and scale of the recovery in demand."...