Anglo Takes a Fresh Look At De Beers&#8217; Value

Anglo American announced that it is undertaking an impairment review of De Beers’ carrying value, assessing the impact of diamond market conditions, which could result in an impairment in its full-year results. The company previously recorded an impairment charge of $2.9 billion on De Beers in February last year, following a $1.6 billion writedown in 2024. The miner said rough diamond trading conditions remained challenging in the fourth quarter of 2025 due to ongoing industry, geopolitical, and tariff uncertainties. “Underlying EBITDA from De Beers is expected to be negative in 2025,” Anglo said, adding that, given the Group’s profit mix and the impact of De Beers’ losses, the Group’s underlying effective tax rate is expected to exceed the guidance range of 44–48 percent. Anglo is in the process of selling its 85 percent stake in De Beers, with the Government of Botswana (GoB) expressing interest. Economist Dr. Keith Jefferis noted in a report that the sale process has been slow due to several complications, including the weak and uncertain global diamond market, De Beers’ ongoing losses, and the lack of clarity over GoB’s plans, given its right of first refusal in the sale. The IMF has advised GoB against increasing its stake in De Beers due to the country’s precarious fiscal situation and high dependence on the diamond sector. Jefferis also argues that considering valuation factors and GoB’s current shareholdings in De Beers and Debswana, the government already has an effective economic interest of around 50 percent. He questions how much additional economic value would result from acquiring a larger stake. He added that restructuring and reviving De Beers requires a coalition of stakeholders, including governments (as ultimate owners of unmined resources), diamond industry expertise, luxury goods marketing expertise, and financiers capable of supporting ongoing losses and capital requirements for mine life extension and diamond marketing. “This suggests that GoB should focus on building the strongest possible ownership coalition rather than seeking a controlling stake,” Jefferis wrote. He added that GoB could plausibly raise its stake from 15 percent to 26 percent, giving it a blocking minority to protect its interests, but acquiring more may not yield significant gains relative to the financial and business risks involved. Botswana’s heavy reliance on diamonds has made the economy highly sensitive to fluctuations in the diamond market, as reflected in volatile production growth linked to demand. According to Anglo’s Q4 2025 report, Botswana’s production fell 56 percent to 1.9 million carats due to maintenance shutdowns. “Jwaneng was offline for the entire quarter for plant optimization ahead of maintenance, while Orapa conducted a shutdown in October,” Anglo said, adding that operations will continue to prioritize cost management while balancing optimal plant throughput with maintenance downtime. Statistics Botswana data show that diamond production surged in Q3 2025 from 2.736 million carats to 6.127 million carats, driving 8.2 percent GDP growth. Jefferis explained that this spike followed a sharp drop in Q2 due to reduced production at Jwaneng and Orapa for care and maintenance. “The Q3 rebound was necessary to meet the annual target of around 15–16 million carats, which remains unchanged,” he said. De Beers’ rough diamond production in Q4 decreased 35 percent to 3.8 million carats, primarily due to maintenance at Jwaneng and Orapa. The mining business delivered strong operational performance despite lower output levels, producing in line with prevailing demand. In Namibia, production fell 2 percent to 0.5 million carats due to scheduled maintenance on two vessels and extended in-port time to install a next-generation subsea crawler on the Benguela Gem, alongside earlier vessel decommissioning. South Africa’s production declined 10 percent to 0.5 million carats following planned plant maintenance. In Canada, production rose to 0.9 million carats as Gahcho Kué accessed new ore from the latest cut after its initial waste-stripping phase. Rough diamond sales from three Sights in Q4 2025 totaled 5.9 million carats, generating consolidated sales revenue of $571 million, up from 4.6 million carats and $543 million in Q4 2024. Anglo said the full-year consolidated average realized price declined 7 percent to $142 per carat, driven by a 12 percent drop in the average rough price index and stock rebalancing initiatives, partially offset by stronger demand for higher-value stones. “However, Q4 realized prices were impacted by a higher proportion of lower-value goods being sold,” the company added.

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Anglo Takes a Fresh Look At De Beers’ Value

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