Petra Diamonds earnings fall

London-listed Petra Diamonds on Monday reported basic headline earnings per smanganese is south africahare (HEPS) of 6.79 US cents for the six months ended December 2010 from 17.77 cents a year ago. On a diluted basis, earnings per share (EPS) came in at 6.48 cents from 17.44 cents a year ago.

Group mine revenue was up 86% to US$90.0 million, while profit from mining activity rose to $24.5 million from $8.0 million. A direct comparison of group revenues between the periods is complicated due to the fact that Petra acquired an additional 37% interest in the Cullinan mine in November 2009 and now consolidates 100% of all mine revenue, whereas up to November 16 2009 the company accounted for its interest in Cullinan under the gross method of proportional consolidation, recognising 50% of revenue, it noted...