Sarine shares continue to rise after clarification on profit expectations

SHARES of diamond processing technology firm Sarine Technologies rose 1.8 per cent in early morning trading on Friday, after the company clarified that it expects fourth-quarter revenue to be in line, or better, than third quarter's performance.

The counter traded at S$2.28 at 10.15am, on a volume of 121,000 shares.

This continues the uptick in the stock since it hit a 10-month low of S$2.17 on Dec 23.

Sarine had on Dec 22 said that the diamond industry has been, and will likely continue to be, affected by credit shortage, increase in polished diamond inventories and the divergence in the prices of rough stones and polished diamonds.

This response created "unwarranted concerns" and has been misconstrued as indicating a loss for the fourth quarter, it said in a press release on Dec 25.

"In light of this incorrect inference and other related negative suppositions regarding the company's financial performance for this quarter, we would like to clarify that we expect revenues for Q4 2014 to be in line with or slightly better than those of Q4 2013 notwithstanding the challenges currently faced by the diamond industry," it said.