Falling sales take the shine off De Beers as latest diamond auction raises just £250m

Sales have plummeted more than 40 percent in the world’s largest diamond producer.

De Beers made £250m from its latest diamond auction (up from £360m the year before), coming just weeks after its FTSE100 owner Anglo American rejected a takeover bid for £39bn from rival mining giant BHP.

During the takeover battle, Anglo boss Duncan Wanblad said De Beers was one of four companies it would sell or spin off under a rush strategy that helped fend off the bid.

There is speculation it could be listed on the London Stock Exchange with a float of £4bn or sold to a buyer as a sovereign wealth fund.

De Beers, where actress Lupita Nyong’o, star of Black Panther and 12 Years A Slave, is a global ambassador, has battled a slump in sales and prices as the popularity of lab-grown stones has risen, much cheaper.

Cook, who has been chief executive of De Beers since February 2023, has insisted the company will prosper when it separates from Anglo, pointing out that it did “some of our best work” in the 124 years before Anglo took control ago. 12 years. .

Cook also told the Mail that De Beers was “consciously disassociating itself” from Anglo, in a nod to the term used by Gwyneth Paltrow and Coldplay frontman Chris Martin when they divorced on good terms.

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