Harry Winston Diamond Corporation announced Wednesday it consolidated sales increased 13 percent to $133.7 million in the fourth quarter from $118.4 million in the comparable quarter last year.

Rough diamond sales for the fourth quarter were 24 percent higher at $63.5 million compared to $51.1 million for the fourth quarter last year. The increase resulted from a combination of a 12 percent increase in the company’s achieved rough diamond prices and an 11 percent increase in volume of carats sold.

Retail sales for the fourth quarter increased 4 percent to $70.2 million from $67.3 million for the comparable quarter of the prior year.

Rough diamond production during the quarter from the Diavik Diamond Mine was 1.6 million carats, compared to 2.6 million carats for the fourth quarter of last year. The decrease resulted because of a planned reduction in mining activity to reflect the softness in the rough diamond market earlier in the year.

Consolidated sales were $412.9 million for the year compared to $609.2 million for the prior year, resulting in a 62 percent decrease in gross margin and a loss from operations of $22.0 million.

Rough diamond sales of $187.9 million were 43 percent lower from the prior year. The decrease in sales resulted from a combination of a 34 percent decrease in the company’s achieved rough diamond prices and a 14 percent decrease in volume of carats sold during the year. This reduction in sales resulted in a loss from mining operations of $6.3 million for the year.

Retail sales of $225.0 million and a loss from operations of $15.7 million for the year, compares to $281.0 million and $2.5 million, respectively, in the prior year. Rough diamond production for the calendar year was 5.5 million carats compared to 9.2 million carats in the prior calendar year.

JCK