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.”