Waterford agm told of challenging trading

Waterford Wedgwood's chief executive today told the company's agm that trading in the period from the end of the financial year remained challenging.

In a statement, Peter Cameron said: "Like-for-like sales in the half were down about 7 per cent on the prior year."

He said actual group sales are running ahead of last year due to the Royal Doulton acquisition. Waterford's financial year ends in March.

"I remain optimistic of the long-term effects of the restructuring and, equally important, a number of new business initiatives."

He said the company is "contemporising" its ranges and new products to launch over the coming months across each of its brands.