De Beers Group unveiled its new Origins strategy to enhance value across its business from mining through to retail. The business will be streamlined and investments will be focused on high return projects in core upstream assets, midstream technologies, natural diamond retail and synthetic diamond technology solutions.
As the natural diamond market continues to recover, De Beers will harness its industry-leading portfolio of mining assets, its iconic retail brands and its track record of generating desire for diamonds. This will drive sustainable growth against a backdrop of declining global diamond production and positive underlying demand fundamentals.
Al Cook, Chief Executive Officer of De Beers Group, said: “We are reinventing every part of De Beers to grow value. Through delivery of our Origins strategy, De Beers will be streamlined, focused, and a leader in diamond technology, provenance and luxury retail. We will recreate the magic of natural diamonds for modern consumers.
“The outlook for natural diamonds is compelling. Global supply is declining with no new mines discovered in the past decade. Consumers in key regions are becoming more affluent and are increasingly differentiating between natural diamonds and lab-grown diamonds.
“Every part of De Beers must add value in itself. But it is our integration from the upstream to the downstream, from the south of Africa to the north of Canada, across our portfolio of technologies that makes De Beers unique. And it is through that integration that we will create value as brilliant as our diamonds.”
De Beers Group is well on the way to delivering over $100 million in sustainable annual cost savings through a reorganisation and by focusing its capital spend. One-off cost savings will also be delivered through the disposal of non-diamond assets, deferments of non-core projects and the disposal of non-strategic equity holdings.
