De Beers H1 Pretax Profit Down 53%

De Beers Societe Anonyme reported a 53% decline in its first half pretax profit. Its pretax profit for the period fell to 444 million dollars, from $951 million, in the year-ago period. Its total sales declined 14% to $3.3 billion versus $3.9 billion. EBITDA dropped to $626 million from $1.18 billion, while underlying earnings fell to $385 million from $666 million.