Ardagh results hit by €14m restructuring charge

Irish glass bottle factory parent company Ardagh Plc has reported a pretax loss of €11

Irish glass bottle factory parent company Ardagh Plc has reported a pretax loss of €11.73 million for the six months to June, compared with a profit of €6.6 million for the corresponding last year.

The company said trading conditions are improving and it expects further earnings growth in the second half as it reported continuing operations have traded satisfactorily and ahead of budget in the first half.

A €14 million restructuring charge incurred by its decision to close Irish glass bottle plant in Ringsend soured the company's results.

The company is still in a dispute with the workers over the level of redundancy payments.

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Turnover rose to €148.7 million from €139.6 million while trading profit from continuing operations held steady at €14.6 million against €14.4 million.

The group said the increase in turnover was attributable to volume growth in the UK.

Ardagh said trading conditions in the UK are improving due to increased market demand with its Rockware unit performing ahead of budget in the first half of 2002.

The acquired Italian operation continues to perform well, is cash generative and will be earnings enhancing from the outset, Ardagh said.

AFP