Lab-grown diamond manufacturer Scio Diamond was not able to make its goal of breaking even this past fiscal year, as production expanded but revenue shrank.
The Greenville, S.C.–based company reported a $4.4 million loss for fiscal year 2015, slightly lower than the prior year’s $4.9 million loss. Revenue for the year totaled $726,193, a 48 percent fall from last year’s $1.41 million. Carat production increased 71 percent, and the average crystal size more than doubled, the company said, without getting more specific.
“We knew this would be a challenging year, but we’ve met all of our milestones with one exception,” said CEO Gerald McGuire in a statement. “We had planned on revenue from our retail channel development efforts to start materializing sooner than it did. Our customers needed more time to develop their own plans to market lab-grown diamonds.”
McGuire, who was appointed last year following a board fight, noted that his company has established a new retail sales channel, citing its recent venture with Helzberg Diamonds.
Its 10-K painted a bleaker picture, reporting that the company expects future losses, and if it doesn’t acquire additional funding, it will cease to function as a going concern.
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