Shares in Waterford Wedgwood fell steeply today after the company posted a first-half loss and said the market remained challenging.
Shares in the crystal and china maker firm, which have fallen nearly 50 per cent over the last 12 months, were down 12.3 per cent at €0.05 in early trade on a flat Dublin bourse.
"Current trading remains challenging and sales performance in October-November was similar to the six months to September 30," it said in a statement.
The company reported a net loss on continuing operations of €94.7 million in the six months ending September 30th. This is compared with a loss of €94.5 million a year earlier, and an operating loss of €69.4 million compared with €47.3 million previously.
Sales on continuing operations were up 11 per cent to €362.5 million but fell on a like-for-like basis by 7 per cent, with crystal sales down 10 per cent due to difficult US conditions, and ceramic sales off 6 per cent due to tough conditions in Britain, Germany, and the United States.
Exceptional items - largely restructuring charges - totalled a loss of €31.5 million versus €26.4 million.
The company, revamping itself after a three-year slump in demand, said the second half of fiscal 2006 should show some improvement over the first half and that it hoped to return to profitability in fiscal 2007 as the impact of restructuring and new business initiatives kicked in.
The company said it was on track to make annual cost savings of €90 million due to its restructuring, funded by a €100 million rights issue. It said in May the restructuring would result in the cutting of 1,800 jobs.