Royal Doulton Raising £31.2M Net

Royal Doulton Plc said it was raising some £31.2m net through a placing of 27.7m new shares at a price of 115p per share. Royal Doulton, which announced a major restructuring last December with the loss of 1,200 jobs, said group turnover in the six months to 30 June was 16% lower than a year ago. It said it expected this trend in lower sales to continue for the remainder of the year. The group confirmed it expected to make an operating loss in the first half of 1999 before returning to profit in the second half. It added that profitability in the second half and the full year result would clearly depend on trading over the Christmas period and other factors, including the effects of the restructuring programme. (whole item)