RAPAPORT… Botswana Diamonds announced that it raised $2.38 million (£1.51 million) through a placement of 37,750,000 shares in London at 4 pence each. The majority of the net proceeds will be used for the company’s exploration projects in Botswana, Cameroon and Zimbabwe.Following the issue of the new shares there is a total of 138,282,267 ordinary shares of 1 pence each in issue…
RAPAPORT… The following table reflects weekly changes for diamond industry shares for period ending on February 16:
Feb. 16
Feb. 9
Chng.
$1 = Euro
0.760
0.752
0.008
$1 = Rupee
49.23
49.50
-0.3
$1 = Israel Shekel
3.75
3.70
0.05
$1 = Rand
7.75
7.59
0.16
$1 = Canadian Dollar
0.99
0.99
0.00
&nb…
(RAPAPORT) Times of India: India’s bilateral trade in the diamond sector with such countries as Armenia, Botswana, Finland and Lesotho is set to gain momentum in the coming years. The reason is that four Indian diamantaires from leading diamond companies will represent India as the honorary consul generals in these countries.
The appointment of Harshad Mehta, Vishal Doshi, Shreyas Dosh…
RAPAPORT… Sarin Technologies Ltd. reported that revenue rose 51 percent year on year to $14 million for the fourth quarter, which ended on December 31. Net profits jumped 271 percent to $4.8 million. Sarin concluded that the quarter benefited from strong demand for both its Galaxy-related and traditional planning systems.
For 2011, Sarin’s revenue increased 27 percent to $57.8 million an…
(RAPAPORT) Daily Telegraph: Jewelry worth $9.5 million (GBP6 million), reported stolen by the wife of a former U.S. ambassador, has turned up after five years in the home of a Dutch hotel maid who mistook the gems for costume jewelry.
Dawn Arnall thought her jewels had been stolen and reported the “theft” to police in The Hague. Insurers then paid out after an investigation failed to find either …
(RAPAPORT) UPI: The diamond industry in Israel is collapsing after police investigated an illegal bank in a diamond district, a former trade association president said. The illegal bank near the Ramat Gan Diamond Exchange was apparently involved in money laundering and tax evasion, Haaretz reported Thursday.
But the raid on the bank has triggered a rash of bounced checks that has forced several d…
RAPAPORT… The federal government (through FinCEN) announced new rules that require sellers of “pre-paid access” products such as gift cards, or any other mechanism that provides access to transferable funds paid in advance, to comply with anti-money laundering rules pertaining to this activity, according to the Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC). Pre-paid access also includes s…
RAPAPORT… Swatch Group reported that sales for 2011 rose 22 percent year on year to $7.8 billion (CHF 7.143 billion). Profit increased 18 percent to $1.4 billion (CHF 1.28 billion) and operating margins inched higher to 23.9 percent from 23.5 percent on year ago, despite a negative currency environment and a sharp increase in commodity prices. The continued weakness in th…
RAPAPORT… The Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (DMCC) welcomed ABN Amro Bank’s International Diamond and Jewellery Group recently. ABN Amro set up a representative office at Almas Towers, the headquarters of the region’s leading commodity center.
“DMCC, since inception, has maintained a strong relationship with ABN Amro and it is our pleasure to welcome them to Almas Tower, the home of the …
RAPAPORT… The U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) assigned the trademark “World’s Brightest Diamond,” registration number 4094862, to Embee Diamond Technologies Inc. of Canada.
The trademark application was filed on October 6, 2011 and was registered on January 31, 2012. The application described that the World’s Brightest Diamond trademark refers to diamonds.
