CASH RICH glass bottle maker Ardagh moved closer to a special dividend for shareholders yesterday, with directors telling its annual general meeting that the board would try to either acquire another business or issue a dividend in the coming financial year.

The firm's chairman, Mr Peter Murray, told shareholders that Ardagh now had cash resources totalling well over £11 million. The board had considered a special dividend, but decided it was not appropriate at this time, he added.

It remained the boards plan to make acquisitions for Ardagh, he said, whether they be part of Ardagh's core business or not.

"We have examined many, many opportunities, but we haven't yet found a suitable one ... they either proved too risky or too expensive," Mr Murray said.

He said the company would continue its quest for an acquisition, and failing this, would consider a special dividend. The board was determined to address these issues within the financial year, he continued.

Pressed after the meeting on whether he meant that the board would definitely do one or the other, Mr Murray said he could not predict what lay ahead for the company and that the board would not like to make such a commitment. Ardagh's managing director, Mr Eddie Kilty, said that the directors were not considering any one acquisition prospect.

During the meeting, one shareholder, Mr Neil Duggan, quoted from the annual report for 1991, on the then board's efforts "for the last several years" to find a suitable acquisition. He suggested that a 5p special dividend - which would cost around £1.7 million - would not impinge on the company's ability to invest.

Last month, the company reported a 12 per cent rise in pretax profit to £5.8 million from £5.1 million.