Shares in upmarket china and crystal glass group Royal Doulton plc tumbled 23% recently, after the company posted a sharp fall in first-half profits & warned of continued tough trading. The group also warned that it had been paying dividends at an unsustainably high level in the context of current trading, a weakening economic climate, high borrowing & the rationalization programme begun last year. Pre-tax profit before one-off items fell 37% to £2.72m on sales which dropped 3% to £108.5m. Earnings per share, excluding exceptional items, fell 41% to 3.2p. Giftware, prestige products, crystal & glass increased 8% in sales at constant exchange rates, but was offset by a similar percentage decline in tableware/hotel and airline products. Royal Doulton said it had expected trading conditions to be difficult with sales heavily influenced by consumer spending in the run up to Xmas.
