Interfax reported that the management board of Yakutia based diamond monopoly Alrosa recommended at a meeting recently that the supervisory board revise the company's annual plan for 2009.

Under the revised plan, Alrosa would target production of USD 1.87 billion in diamonds in 2009, or USD 1.53 billion excluding Alrosa-Nurba. Product sales will total USD 2.1 billion, including USD 1.736 billion by Alrosa and USD 372.8 million by Alrosa-Nurba.

Sales revenue would total RUB 93.54 billion for a net profit of RUB 2.18 billion. Capital expenditure is planned at RUB 12.82 billion. The company will spend RUB 3.07 billion on geological exploration.

The company said in a statement that "The proposed revision to the planned indicators of Alrosa operations for the current year is based on a number of factors, including the significant drop in sales volumes on the diamond market and changes in the ruble-dollar exchange rates."

The supervisory board approved the previous version of the 2009 plan in late December. It targeted sales revenue at USD 2.68 billion and production at USD 2.36 billion. The net profit target was RUB 3.87 billion. Capex was set at RUB 15.12 billion.

Alrosa announced last fall that it would reduce diamond deliveries by 30% to support prices. The company expects to form a reserve of raw diamonds at state run Gokhran worth USD 2 billion. The Russian government will make a final decision on the volume and price of the raw diamonds.

Sourced from Interfax)