LONDON, July 7, 2026, 18:03 BST
- Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD) ended the session off 1.45% at 3.40p. Trading volume was under the 65-day average.
- The sell and buy quotes were 3.40p and 3.88p, putting the spread close to 13% of the midpoint.
- Q1 revenue came in at $32.1 million, nearly five times the company’s implied market cap at Tuesday’s close. But net debt at year-end was still more than triple that figure.
- De Beers has lowered its official rough diamond prices for the July sales cycle, showing fresh pressure on the market for natural stones.
Gem Diamonds Limited (LON:GEMD) closed Tuesday at 3.40p, off 0.05p, after London’s trading session ended at 18:03 BST. The London Stock Exchange’s normal hours are 0800 to 1630. MarketWatch said volume hit 107,350 shares, which is 59% of the 65-day average. The company’s market cap sits at about £4.8 million.
The bigger number was the trading cost. AJ Bell had Gem quoted at 3.40p to sell and 3.88p to buy, giving a 0.48p spread. With a midpoint at 3.64p, that works out to about 13.2%. With the stock’s market cap still under £5 million, that spread can be more important than whatever the price does in a day.
| Gem Diamonds trading check | July 7 data | Read-through |
|---|---|---|
| Last price | 3.40p | Off 1.45% |
| Sell / buy quote | 3.40p / 3.88p | Spread at 13.2% on the mid |
| Volume | 107,410 shares | Roughly £3,652 at close |
| Market value | £4.76 mln-£4.83 mln | Micro-cap; thin trading risk |
| 52-week range | 2.50p-7.44p | Stock trades 54% under the high, up 36% from low |
The RNS feed for the company didn’t show a trading update for July 6 or July 7. The last listed filing was a July 1 notice on total voting rights. That put voting rights at 140,004,845 after accounting for 1,520,170 shares held in treasury. With Tuesday’s close at 3.40p, those voting rights put the equity value at roughly £4.76 million, or about $6.36 million using GBP/USD around 1.3371.
Gem’s Q1 numbers look out of step with the stock price. In May, Gem said Letšeng’s first 2026 export moved 16,727 carats at $1,501 per carat, up 17% on the previous quarter. Q1 revenue came in at $32.1 million. That included a $7 million parcel for 10 diamonds over 10.8 carats.
| Letšeng sales metric | Q1 2026 | Q4 2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carats sold | 16,727 | 21,191 | -21% |
| Sales value, export 1 | $25.1 mln | $27.3 mln | -8% |
| Average price | $1,501/ct | $1,288/ct | +17% |
| Extra large-stone parcel | $7.0 mln | n/a | 10 stones, 363 ct |
| Total Q1 revenue | $32.1 mln | n/a | Includes extra parcel |
Higher prices per carat did not fix the balance-sheet problem. Gem closed 2025 with net debt at $20.1 million and $68.3 million in undrawn facilities. Revenue dropped 36% to $98.4 million, underlying EBITDA came in at $3.9 million, and there was a $77.5 million impairment on Letšeng.
| Valuation stress check | Source value | Versus implied $6.36 mln equity value |
|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 revenue | $32.1 mln | 5.0x |
| 2025 revenue | $98.4 mln | 15.5x |
| 2025 underlying EBITDA | $3.9 mln | 0.6x |
| 2025 net debt | $20.1 mln | 3.2x |
| 2025 impairment | $77.5 mln | 12.2x |
Chief Executive Clifford Elphick said in March that “continued weakness in the diamond market required decisive action.” The group started its Business Resilience Programme in the second half of 2025. The company also said there is “no certainty around the recovery” of the diamond market in the short term. Investegate
Diamond prices at De Beers dropped in July as the Anglo American plc LON:AAL unit cut its sightholder list to between 45 and 50 from about 70, according to Mining.com citing Bloomberg News. The report said De Beers had been selling rough stones at prices 5% to 50% above the secondary market, depending on the type.
Gem’s Q1 read-across looks mixed. Letšeng put out a 191.82 carat Type IIa white stone and four diamonds topped $1 million each, which is big. But De Beers moving to cut prices shows rough is still weak, and miner confidence isn’t getting much lift yet.
Gem traded on light volume Tuesday, so the FTSE numbers didn’t really say much about its move. The FTSE 100 ended up 0.1% at 10,655.88, the FTSE 250 lost 0.5%, according to Reuters. Less than £4,000 of Gem stock changed hands at the close price.
The second-quarter figure hasn’t been reported yet, and that’s the last key gap in Gem’s stock-specific data. In its first-quarter update, Gem said the rest of the carats mined in the period that delivered the 363-carat parcel would go to market in Q2. The open question for the stock now is whether the $1,501 per carat first-export price stuck around for that sale.
