Petra Diamonds unveils plan for early dividend

The miner that found two rare blue diamonds this year has said it plans to pay a dividend sooner than expected.

Petra Diamonds, which this week sold of its diamonds for more than £17m, said higher prices for a larger number of rough stones helped it post a 47 per cent jump in full-year core earnings to nearly £190m and said it is looking at paying a dividend sooner than the planned 2016.

It is on track to mine about 3.2 million carats in this financial year and said diamond demand from investors is increasing.

Chief executive Johan Dippenaar said: “Petra's production growth comes at a time when demand for diamonds is continuing to grow around the world, but particularly in the major US market and in emerging markets such as China and India.”

Production increased by 17 per cent to 3.1m carats for the year to the end of June and revenue rose by 20 per cent to $471.8m. Revenue grew by 20 per cent to $471.8m.