Jewelry success prompts Aber name change

The growth of high-end jewelry outlet Harry Winston has led its owner Aber Diamond Corp. (ABZ-T, ABER-Q) to take the jeweler’s name.

Aber, which has a 40% stake in the Diavik diamond mine in the Northwest Territories, bought Harry Winston three years ago when it had just six stores. Aber had a vision of expansion.

Now there are 14 and counting Harry Winston outlets, the most recent in Beijing, Chicago and a mens outlet in Tokyo. Aber plans to add two or three new stores per year until it has about 40.

Harry Winston sales increased during the first quarter by 17% to US$58.6 million compared to the same period in 2006.

The official name change wont occur until fall to coincide with the start of the busy season for jewelry sales and to allow time to change its stock listing.

Abers share of diamonds produced at Diavik set a new first quarter production high of 1 million carats compared to 700,000 carats last year.

The companys net earnings for the quarter were US$3.3 million or 6 per share compared to US$23.6 million last year. Net earnings were affected by a foreign exchange adjustment of US$13.6 million on income taxes not deductible for Canadian tax purposes.