Anglo laid bare the ongoing losses at De Beers after setting out a plan last year to sell the diamond business as part of a historic corporate overhaul to defend the company against a £34bn takeover plot by the Australian miner BHP.
He added that the company did not expect “much traction or progress” on its plans to spin off De Beers in the first half of the year, which could be via a trade sale or a listing via an IPO or demerger, but it might “pick up” towards the end of the year.
The world’s biggest diamond miner De Beers cost its parent company almost $3bn last year as the growth in lab-grown stones continues to take the shine off the industry.
In response Anglo has taken impairments of $2.9bn on De Beers last year, after a $1.6bn writedown of the company in its annual results last year.
Anglo American was forced to write down the value of the renowned gem producer for a second consecutive year as its chief executive admitted that the diamond markets had proved “really, really difficult for the company”.
