Namibia diamond firm says performs relatively well in 2019-20 despite headwinds

Namibia's diamond marketing and sales company Namib Desert Diamonds (Namdia) performed relatively well during 2019/2020, despite an extremely challenging year for the industry, an executive said Wednesday.
Namdia made 10 sales totaling 253,073.37 carats for an average of 528.64 U.S. dollars per carat, the firm said in its 2019/20 report.
"The positive financial performance is attributed to a well-executed strategy that focuses on revenue maximization for Namibia diamonds, optimization of sales strategy and robust internal processes and procedures," Namdia CEO Kennedy Hamutenya said while presenting the annual report in Windhoek.
The company also managed a dividend of 80 million Namibia dollars (4.7 million dollars) to shareholders and the government during the period, he said.
During the last quarter of the financial year, the diamond industry was severely impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19, Hamutenya said.
"Diamond centers around the world closed their doors and diamond trading declined sharply in February due to economic uncertainty created by COVID-19," he said.
Looking ahead, Hamutenya believes the diamond industry remains resilient and will revamp and revitalize itself with the global economies.
"We will continue to focus on delivering on our strategies in 2020/2021, maintaining our disciplined approach to our mandate and sales strategy whilst working to grow cash flows and returns," he said. (Xinhua)