De Beers deliver sparkling results

WOMEN are driving the boom in diamond sales, helping the giant De Beers group produce a sparkling set of results for 2003.

Chairman Nicky Oppenheimer reported a 7% increase in rough diamond sales, taking them to $5.52bn (£3.01bn), comfortably ahead of most analysts' expectations. Headline earnings jumped almost 18% to $676m.

There was strong growth in the US, which accounts for half the world diamond market. De Beers has stepped up its marketing spend there and is targetting women customers.

The UK also did well last year, as did China and India, while the Japanese market recorded growth for the first time in a number of years.

Prices of rough diamonds were raised by 10% in 2003 and by 3% this year so far, offsetting the impact of the strong rand.

Mining giant Anglo American, which owns 45% of De Beers, receives dividends of $386 million, up from $324m in 2002.