Russian diamond producer, Alrosa, has posted a FY 2009 net profit of 3.46 billion roubles under IFRS.

The bottom line marked a sharp turnaround from a the FY 2008 net loss of 32.77 billion roubles, with pre – tax profit jumping to 6.66 billion roubles from losses of 36 billion roubles a year earlier, despite sales revenue falling 14.4% year on year to 77.95 billion roubles from 91.08 billion roubles in FY 2008.

According to the company’s statement, as of the end of 2009 the Company’s current liabilities exceeded its current assets by 56.66 million roubles, which was mostly caused by credits and borrowings due to be paid during the year after the reporting date. However, the Group’s management is upbeat about the future and is sure that both better economic environment in world diamond markets in 2010 and cost optimization will help Alrosa to generate profit and positive cash flow, enough to significantly reduce its debt burden by the end of 2010.