Russia’s Alrosa Reports Big Rise In Revenue In Q1

The miner said the rise was largely a result of a rise in sales of rough diamonds together with the impact of a decline of the ruble.

Russia’s diamond monopoly Alrosa reports a 43-percent jump in revenue in the first quarter of this year to $1.64 billion.
 
Alrosa reported, however, that net earnings in the first quarter inched down 3 percent on the year to $178 million, mainly because of increased exchange rate losses due to a revaluation of the dollar denominated part of its credit portfolio after the ruble's fall in the first three months of this year.

Alrosa CEO Fyodor Andreev commented: “Positive market dynamics in Q1 2014 allowed Alrosa to deliver record-high financial results, that have enabled Alrosa capitalization growth of 20 percent since its share launch in Moscow in 2013.”

The miner, which produces around 97 percent of Russia’s diamonds and 25 percent of global supply, also reported that its free cash flow in the first quarter "increased 2.5 times vs. the same period of the previous year and amounted to $587 million (RUB20.1 billion) as the result of increased operating profit and sell-down of inventories".