Johan Dippenaar is stepping down as CEO of Petra Diamonds.
The announcement comes as the company posts a net loss of $203 million for the year ended June 30. Revenue increased 25 percent to $495 million.
The diamond producer said it’s looking for a successor and that Dippenaar will leave the role when an appointment is made.
“Learning from past challenges, the Group’s focus is to regain investor confidence by the continued optimisation of operations, thereby delivering consistent production output with efficient operating and capital expenditure,” Dippenaar said.
The leadership change is “in line with the Company’s development from a phase of intensive capital expenditure and expansion to a focus on steady state operations,” Petra said in a press release.
“Johan has led Petra through a long period of significant growth, taking the Company’s annual production from approximately 175,000 carats in FY 2006 to 4.6 million carats in FY 2018, and establishing the Company as a leading independent diamond producer,” said Adonis Pouroulis, chairman of Petra. “As Petra now approaches the final stage of its expansion plans, it is positioned to reap the benefits and, in line with the Nomination Committee’s Succession Plan, a successor for the CEO position will be appointed in due course.”
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Honoring a Legacy: How Smith & Son Jewelers Exceeded Every Goal With Wilkerson
When Andrew Smith decided to close the Springfield, Massachusetts location of Smith & Son Jewelers, the decision came down to family. His father was retiring after 72 years in the business, and Andrew wanted to spend more time with his children and soon-to-arrive grandchildren.
For this fourth-generation jeweler whose great-grandfather founded the company in 1918, closing the 107-year-old Springfield location required the right partner. Smith chose Wilkerson, and the experience exceeded expectations from start to finish.
"Everything they told me was 100% true," Smith says. "The ease and use of all their tools was wonderful."
The consultants' knowledge and expertise proved invaluable. Smith and his father set their own financial goal, but Wilkerson proposed three more ambitious targets. "We thought we would never make it," Smith explains. "We were dead wrong. We hit our first goal, second goal and third goal. It was amazing."
Smith's recommendation is emphatic: "I would never be able to do what they did by myself."
