Irish glassmaking group Ardagh Glass dropped into the red during the first quarter of 2009 with a EUR 46M loss due to a EUR 37M restructuring charge related to redundancies. Ardagh Glass is the 3rd largest glass container manufacturer in Europe, with 18% of the market (O-I first, Saint-Gobain second). In a report to bond holders, Ardagh said revenue for 3 months to end-March decreased 10% to EUR 284.4M (314.9M) in the same period 2008. Earnings before interest, taxation, depreciation & amortization dropped almost 24% to EUR 48.2M (63.1M/Euros). Ardagh said that turnover within the Eurozone remained mainly flat during the quarter at EUR 168M, even if revenue related to the glass container manufacturing fell 5% to EUR 152.4M. In the UK, turnover decreased 17% to EUR 66.7M for the 3m period to end of March 2009. The company has total borrowings of EUR 1.17BN.
