Petra Diamonds Limited announced unaudited earnings, sales and production results for the six months ended 31 December 2016. Revenue increased 48% to $228.5 million against $154.0 million, due to increased sales volumes. Diamonds sold rose 47% for the Period to 1,910,113 carats against 1,303,051 carats. In line with past years, second half is expected to be a stronger sales period, due to the timing of tenders being weighted towards the latter half of Petra's financial year.

For the six months, production up 24% to 2,015,087 carats against 1,629,403 carats a year ago due to increased contribution from undiluted ROM ore leading to improved ROM grades, and additional tailings production from Kimberley Ekapa Mining. The company is on track for full year production of 4.4 million to 4.6 million carats.

Pretax profit in the first half amounted to $51.6 million, an improvement from the tiny $100,000 profit generated one year earlier. The company reported an adjusted net profit after tax of $28.2 million in the first half, rising from $6.3 million
a year ago.