26 March 1998: Waterford Wedgwood, the Irish luxury crystal and china group, reported a 15% rise in pre-tax profits for 1997. Brian Patterson, chief executive of Wedgwood and Redmond O“Donoghue, chie…
26 March 1998: Waterford Wedgwood, the Irish luxury crystal and china group, reported a 15% rise in pre-tax profits for 1997. Brian Patterson, chief executive of Wedgwood and Redmond O“Donoghue, chief executive of Waterford, said that while this year would see consolidation in the china business, another year of record crystal sales is predicted. The group earned I 40 million, excluding a one-time restructuring charge of I 27.8 million in its ceramics division. The figure was in line with analysts“ forecasts of I 39.5-40.8 million and was up from I 34.9 million in 1996. The one-time charge arose from restructuring and consolidating the Wedgwood china brand and the company“s recently bought 82.62% stake in German porcelain firm Rosenthal. Group chairman, Tony O“Reilly, said that during the early months of the year, both Wedgwood and Rosenthal would continue with “heavy investment”.