Profit at world's top diamond producer falls 44% as ruble plunges

 Russia's state-held Alrosa, the world's top diamond producer, said Wednesday its profits fell 44 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2014 due to the plunging value of the ruble.
Net profit from the first nine months of 2014 fell 44 percent to 12.8 billion rubles ($277 million), Alrosa said in a statement.
The group, which extracts diamonds in far northern Russia, said it suffered increased foreign exchange losses as the fall in the ruble forced it to revalue its dollar-denominated debt.
The ruble has this year lost around a third of its value against the dollar as Russia faces Western sanctions over Ukraine and falling oil prices.
The ruble was trading at 46.25 against the dollar and 57.68 against the euro at around 0700 GMT on Wednesday.