London-listed Petra Diamonds sold 781 797 ct of diamonds during the quarter ended March 31 – the third quarter of its 2026 financial year.

Revenue for the quarter was $68-million, compared with $49-million in the second quarter.

The average group price achieved in the third quarter was $87/ct, 11% lower than the $98/ct achieved in the second quarter.

Petra explains that this pricing was affected by a 15% reduction in like-for-like prices across all product sizes, partly offset by an improved product mix.

The company notes that the smaller size categories have continued to see weaker prices, offset by improving demand in the coarser higher valued diamonds.

The company has also announced that, following a competitive tender process, an agreement has been entered into for the sale of the 41.82 ct Type IIb blue diamond of exceptional colour and clarity that was recovered at Cullinan mine, in South Africa, in December 2025.

Under the terms of the agreement, the company receives an initial consideration linked to the value of the rough diamond and retains a significant economic interest in the profit realised from the sale of the polished stone, which could take about 12 months to materialise.

The company says this provides Petra the best chance of maximising value from this diamond.

The initial consideration has been booked as revenue for the third quarter and is included in the total revenue numbers and average realised price for this quarter.

The company points out that the blue diamond will be cut and polished in South Africa, which was a key consideration for Petra in order to continue supporting the South African beneficiation sector.

"While the overall market remains challenging, especially in the smaller-sized segments, recovering a sizeable, exceptional quality diamond demonstrates the quality of Cullinan mine's significant resource.

“The agreement we have reached on this blue stone will enable leveraging considerable experience in the manufacturing and sale of polished diamonds to extract maximum value for Petra while also allowing for the cutting and polishing of this stone in South Africa and we look forward to seeing the ultimate outcome of this magnificent gem,” says Petra Diamonds joint CEOs Vivek Gadodia and Juan Kemp.

Meanwhile, the price weakness, particularly in the smaller size segments, impacted on both the Cullinan and Finsch mines, but unlike the Cullinan mine, whose product mix was able to partly mitigate the overall reduced prices achieved, the company explains that Finsch did not have that benefit and experienced a significant overall reduction of 22% on average prices received quarter on quarter.

In comparison, the Cullinan mine experienced an overall reduction of 9% quarter-on-quarter, largely owing to the reduced prices for the smaller goods, as well as the inventory release held at the end of the first half of this financial year, which had a larger proportion of smaller goods within the Cullinan mine inventory.

While Finsch continues to ramp up production from the new project area, which should lead to an improved product mix, Petra says it doesn't anticipate the improvement from this product mix to fully mitigate the much weaker prices across the smaller size ranges currently being experienced in the market, which impacts Finsch a lot more than Cullinan owing to the lack of high-value diamonds weighing more than 10.8 ct.

Further, Petra notes that the recent Middle East tensions have also dampened sentiment, with travel disruptions through the Middle East directly impacting on tender participation for the company’s goods.

Consequently, Petra says it is revising its pricing assumptions for Finsch to achieve between $60/ct and $70/ct for the full year.

“We retain our pricing assumptions for the Cullinan mine, despite the year-to-date average being $118/ct, owing to the continuing global uncertainties, as well as the continued market weakness in the smaller size diamonds,” the company says.