Gemfields Group Limited

Gemfields reported $106 million of revenue in the first half of 2026 and EBITDA of $40.7 million. Adjusted earnings per share were a gain of $0.06 per share, excluding the non-cash impairment charge. Free cash inflow was $17.4 million. The company ended June with net debt of $44 million; including auction receivables, net debt improved to $10.6 million. The main charge in the period was a $125.2 million non-cash impairment at MRM, and MRM’s carrying value was reduced to $80.3 million. For the remainder of 2026, management said it had already secured almost $30 million from the September commercial-quality emerald auction, with a high-quality emerald auction and two more auctions still to come; it expects the remaining 2026 auctions to be broadly consistent with recent trends.

David Lovett described the first half as difficult and said the loss was disappointing, mainly because of challenges at MRM. He pointed to recent improvement at PP2, stronger ruby recoveries in the last few months, and strong Kagem production as reasons for measured optimism. His message was that the company’s priorities are operational stability, tight cost control, and rebuilding balance sheet resilience.

Becki Tate focused on the numbers and balance sheet. She said revenue was $106 million, EBITDA $40.7 million, adjusted EPS was a gain of $0.06 per share, and free cash inflow was $17.4 million, with net debt at $44 million at June 30. She explained the $125.2 million MRM impairment and said $70.5 million of that was allocated against MRM PPE on a pro rata basis, while the remaining fair value mining assets previously held at group level were written down from $55 million to nil. She also said cash refunds are coming in slowly: Kagem received about $5.4 million of ZRA refunds in 8 of 9 months, while MRM received a $0.9 million refund post period end in August, and management uses a $5 million minimum cash requirement in its going concern assessment.

Analysts pressed management on the size and basis of the MRM/PP2 impairment, and Becki explained that the charge reflected a downward revision to life-of-mine grade assumptions based on recent results, mine plans and bulk sampling. Questions also focused on MRM grades, PP2 throughput, contract mining, VAT recovery, cash needs and debt. Management said PP2 is currently running above 400 TPH, that a decision on contract mining will be made by year-end as part of 2027 planning, that MRM is not yet able to pay management and auction fees, and that debt repayment is expected to be manageable though refinancing talks are at an early stage.