Petra Diamonds
$45.8m debt at end December
This financial year to the end of June was always going to mark something of a trough for Petra Diamonds. The company has five mines bought over recent years from De Beers, elderly properties dating back half a century or so. Part of the income comes from processing large amounts of tailings already extracted, while the accessible parts of the mines provide low-grade ore.
Meanwhile, Petra is investing in new areas for mining, but these are taking time to come on stream. The shares were among the best risers in the FTSE 250 last year, but they fell 15¼p to 165¼p after a mixed halfway trading statement.
This year is the last one when the company is reliant