19 March 1998: The UK“s Soda ash producer Brunner Mond maintained profits, despite the strong pound and the South East Asian crisis.
The company announced interim profits for the six months ended 3…
19 March 1998: The UK“s Soda ash producer Brunner Mond maintained profits, despite the strong pound and the South East Asian crisis. The company announced interim profits for the six months ended 31 December 1997. Pre-tax profits were slightly below analysts expectations at UK 8.8 million, against a pro-forma UK 8.9 million, while turnover was unchanged at UK 72.2 million. Earnings per share were down from 8.6 p to 8.5 p. David Wertheim, chief executive, said the company had been forced to cut prices in the UK to defend market share against cheaper imports. Reports say that the Asian crisis had cut between 1% and 2% off the company“s sales. However, the economic difficulties were said to have been offset by severe cost controls. “We have been making investments which improve efficiencies, so we can make more of our product from less raw materials”, said Wertheim. Brunner Mond also said it has completed the acquisition of Akzo Nobel“s soda ash business in the Netherlands. “This is a key step in expanding Brunner Mond“s core business in Europe,” said Chairman Eric Kinder. The deal makes Brunner Europe“s second biggest producer of soda ash, used in the production of glass and detergents. Capital investment has reportedly fallen from UK 6.4 million to UK 5.6 million. Kinder says the company remains “cautiously optimistic” about the outlook for the second half.