Revenue, profit up for Gemfields in fiscal 2014

Both revenue and profits increased this past fiscal year for Gemfields Plc, which saw the company push into the black as it began selling rubies for the first time.

Brecken Branstrator brecken.branstrator@nationaljeweler.com

London--Both revenue and profits increased this past fiscal year for Gemfields Plc, which saw the company push into the black as it began selling rubies for the first time.

The colored gemstone miner reported Monday that revenue hit $160.1 million in its fiscal year ended June 30, up from $48.4 million in the prior-year period.

Gemfields recorded profits of $16.3 million in the 12-month period, a drastic increase from the net loss of $22.8 million it saw in fiscal 2013.

Annual production of emerald and beryl from the company’s main asset, the Kagem mine in Zambia, was 20.2 million carats, down 33 percent from the 30 million carats extracted last year. The company said that this decrease was due to high amounts of rainfall, grade volatility and delays in the next phase of the program to expand the pit size.

Three auctions of emerald and beryl mined at Kagem, two of higher-quality and one of lower-quality rough, were held in Lusaka, Zambia, during the year, generating revenues of $84.4 million.

Traded rough emerald auctions for gems not mined by the company were held in Jaipur, India, in September 2013 and May 2014, generating revenue of $22 million.

Total ruby and corundum extracted from the Montepuez mine in Mozambique, meanwhile, was 6.5 million carats. Gemfields held its first auction featuring the gemstones from that mine in June 2014, realizing $33.5 million and an average per-carat price of $18.43.

The auction was 91 percent sold by value and 90 percent sold by volume. Gemfields attributed its success in part to the development of a “first-of-its-kind” comprehensive grading and sorting system that Gemfields developed for rough rubies, which was based on the proprietary rough emerald grading system used at the company’s Kagem emerald mine in Zambia.

The miner said that the next auction of ruby and corundum is scheduled to take place before the end of calendar year 2014.

Meanwhile, Gemfields also recently infused a $2.5 million investment into its Kariba mine to significantly increase production of amethyst and just announced it has acquired an interest in a Sri Lankan company to mine sapphires there.

Fine jewelry house Fabergé, which is 100 percent owned by Gemfields, saw increased unit sales and a 12 percent relative increase in gross profit margins from sales and sales orders during the 12-month period.

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also saw a number of new developments during the fiscal year. Fabergé restructured its operations, implemented a global strategic plan and launched a new advertising campaign called “The Art of Colour.”

Fabergé also exhibited at Baselworld and, in New York, completed its Big Egg Hunt this spring, raising $2.7 million for the “Elephant Family” and “Studio In A School” charities.

Gemfields CEO Ian Harebottle said, “The Kagem emerald mine in Zambia continues to be our cornerstone asset and the fact that Kagem is now a fully tax paying entity (and has distributed its first ever dividends to our partners, the Government of the Republic of Zambia), validates the investment, turnaround and growth initiatives initiated when Gemfields acquired 75 percent of Kagem in June 2008. We are very grateful to our dedicated and hard-working team and remain tremendously excited about our expanding global portfolio of emeralds, rubies and sapphires.”

Brecken Branstratoris the senior editor, gemstones at National Jeweler, covering sourcing, pricing and other developments in the colored stone sector.