Gem Diamonds sees "excellent" results in the first half
Gem Diamonds said on Wednesday its revenue was up 54% at $148.9m in the first half of the year due to a good performance at the Letseng mine.
The miner's underlying core earnings were up 87% at $62.2m compared with $33.2m at the same time last year.
The diamond producer, which works in Lesotho and Botswana, said that carats recovered from its Letseng mine in Lesotho increased 29% against the first half of last year.
Gem Diamonds's chief executive, Clifford Elphick, said: "The first half of 2014 was a very strong start to the year for Gem Diamonds with an exceptional performance at Letšeng.
"The ongoing focus on low capex, value accretive projects, resulting in increased diamond liberation and reduced diamond damage have been implemented at Letšeng and are bearing fruit."
FinnCap analysts said the results were "excellent", giving a 'buy' rating and 261p price target.
Shares were up 3.25% to 214.5p on Wednesday.
JF