Ardagh, quoted on the Irish Stock Exchange, announced a pre-tax profit of 1.72m Euros (£1.1m), against a loss of 30.2M Euros, after the demerger of its UK and Italian glass operations. Turnover for the year to December was down from 318M to 42.7M Euros. The group said it was making "good progress" in disposing of plant, equipment and stock from its glass factory in Ringsend, Dublin, which is also being closed. Retained activities, which include selling products sourced from other manufacturers, including the demerged Ardagh Glass, produced a pre-tax profit of 1.44M Euros. This was against a loss of 12M Euros, struck after exceptional charges of 8.8M Euros. Turnover from the retained activities was down from 29.6M Euros to 3.22M Euros, partly as a result of the closure of the Dublin plant. The group is proposing to change its name to South Wharf. (whole item)
