Improved Business benefits Sarine in Q4
Sarine Technologies Ltd announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended 31 December 2017. They say, Recurring revenues accounted for just under half of FY2017 revenue as installed base of Galaxy family systems expanded to 345 as at 31 December 2017.
Balance sheet remains healthy with short-term deposits, cash and cash equivalents totaling US$29.1 million and no debt. The Group targets to double the number of stones scanned as sales programs utilising Sarine Profile continue to expand in China, Japan and ASEAN countries.
With its newly introduced AI-based 4Cs automated grading capability and Sarine Diamond Journey augmenting Sarine Profile, the Group will drive polished diamond retail-related revenues up by offering value-added packages to customers.
According to the issued report, as business sentiments in the diamond manufacturing sector improved somewhat towards the very end of 2017, Sarine recorded revenues of US$12.9 million in Q4 2017, an improvement of 15% over Q3 2017. The increase was mainly attributed to higher sales of diamond manufacturing related capital equipment.
The Group delivered 11 Galaxy family systems to customers, comprising 6 Galaxy systems and 5 Meteor systems, during the quarter. Driven by increased revenue, gross profit was higher in Q4 2017 compared to Q3 2017. However, gross profit margin was marginally lower at 65% due to changes in product mix. The Group incurred lower operating expenses in Q4 2017 compared to Q3 2017.
“Against the backdrop of significantly reduced DeBeers sights, we believe this is indicative that we are not losing significant existing business and are expanding our customer base, illicit competition notwithstanding. Notably, as DeBeers sights are now increasing, we are seeing a commensurate increase in our scanning activities, with new scanning records being set,” commented Mr. David Block, CEO of the Group.
