RE:Earnings Calldiamhunter wrote: Well, that was just about the most downbeat MPVD earnings call I've heard. Mr Brown sounded like he was speaking at the funeral of a not-so-close friend.
Analyst questions focussed on sharp drop if the $/carat price since the last quarter - about 20%. Management's explanation was weak, indicating that they don't have a clue why this happened.
Mr. Mackie - normally very sharp and clear - stated that half the drop was because of finer size distribution (smaller diamonds) and half due to weak market. Well, the market hasn't dropped by 10% since quarter 2, so it must be because of smaller diamond sizes.
The questions remains: why was this not signalled to the market in the second quarter call and, more important, how do we know that this is going to improve in quarter 4?
Diamhunter please observe with regards to your comment "the market hasn't dropped 10% since Q2" :
"Alrosa r
ough sales slipped 37% to $601 million, while the average price for gem-quality diamonds slid 32% to $135 per carat" Perhaps it has fallen by 10% + but everyone just keeps blaming it on the sale of smaller, less valuable stones. Perhaps that is just the reality of the situation and no one will admit it. Same results for GEM and same results for Lucara. Down over 30% average carat price this year on same quality stones
https://www.diamonds.net/News/NewsItem.aspx?ArticleID=64361&ArticleTitle=Alrosa%2bProfit%2bDrops%2bin%2bThird%2bQuarter