Richard Duffy steps down as Petra Diamonds CEO

Petra Diamonds has announced that Richard Duffy has resigned as CEO and director of the company by mutual agreement and with immediate effect.

Vivek Gadodia and Juan Kemp have been appointed as joint interim chief executive officers.

Gadodia will have responsibility for all group corporate matters and Kemp will have responsibility for all group operational matters. Both Gadodia and Kemp will report into the board and lead Petra’s executive committee. At this point, they will not be appointed as directors.

Gadodia joined Petra in 2021 and his roles on the executive committee have included Planning and corporate development executive and more latterly chief restructuring officer.

Before joining Petra, Gadodia spent nearly 15 years with Sasol in a wide range of engineering, project management and corporate positions.

Meanwhile, Kemp joined Petra in 2009 when the Cullinan Mine was purchased from De Beers. He became general manager at Cullinan Mine in 2011, chief technical officer in 2019 and operations executive, Cullinan Mine in 2024.

Kemp has over 30 years’ experience, with a “deep knowledge” of the Cullinan Mine and before his time at De Beers, he worked at Anglo Gold in the East Rand Gold and Uranium Division.

Duffy’s resignation comes as Petra Diamond revealed its H1 FY25 losses widened. The group’s EBITDA saw a decline from $38m (£30.17m) in H1 FY2024 to $15m (£11.91m), largely due to revenue benefit in H1 FY 2024.

For the six months ending December 31, 2024, the group’s revenue declined from $164m (£130.2m) to $115m (£91.30m). This drop was primarily due to the deferral of 456,000 carats of sales (valued at approximately $50m (£39.70m), based on average prices from the first tender of FY 2024). These sales, originally expected in FY 2023, were instead completed in the first half of FY 2024.

In October 2024, Petra announced the completion of the sale of Koffiefontein to the Stargems Group, avoiding incurring closure-related costs of $23m (£18.26m).

Post Period-end, Petra announced it had entered into an agreement with Pink Diamonds Investments Limited to sell its entire shareholding in Williamson for a headline consideration of up to $16m (£12.70m).

Looking ahead, the group stated that it continues to focus on “improved business resilience and a successful refinancing of its debt in CY 2025”.

José Manuel Vargas, Petra’s chair, said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Richard for his hard work and dedication as CEO since he joined Petra in 2019. We wish Richard all the best for the future.

“We congratulate Juan and Vivek on their interim appointments. The board looks forward to working with them on the delivery of Petra’s near-term objectives, in particular the refinancing of its debt.”

Duffy added: “It’s been an honour and a privilege to serve Petra for the past almost six years. I would like to thank the Petra team and my fellow Directors and wish Petra every success going forward.”