Petra Diamonds Ltd said it expected a strong market for rough diamonds to continue and that it would consider initiating a dividend from financial year 2016.

Petra, which has five producing mines in South Africa and one in Tanzania, said adjusted core earnings jumped 157 percent to $65.8 million for the six months ended Dec. 31. Revenue grew 19 percent to $185.5 million.

Carat sales were expected to be significantly higher in the second half due to the seasonal timing of its tenders, the company said.

Earlier this month Petra sold a 29.6 carat blue diamond mined at its Cullinan mine in South Africa for $25.6 million to U.S. luxury jeweller Cora International NY. The sale is expected to boost its results for the second half of the year.

The diamond miner said first-half production jumped 31 percent to 1.635 million carats. Petra maintained its production outlook of about 3 million carats for the year ended June 30, 2014.