Norish says trading environment still difficult as it swings into loss in H1

LONDON (AFX) – Norish PLC said trading environment continues to be difficult as it reported a swing into a loss in the first half.
For the six months to June 30, the company posted a pretax loss of 800,000 stg compared with a profit of 400,000 on sales down at 6 mln from 6.6 mln, mainly in its ambient and commodity business due to a further drop in cocoa tonnages. The result includes 700,000 stg of reorganisation costs and 300,000 stg in respect of handling revenue charged in advance.

The group said in order to streamline the control of the business, it is reducing central and operational costs through the closure of the Reigate head office and by reducing the number of management and administrative employees.

Norish said its business is suffering from additional insurance costs, which are difficult to recover from the existing customer base. But with cost cutting measures being taken, it may see some improvement in the performance.

“However our trading environment continues to be difficult and I would caution against over-optimism for the second-half of the year,” it added.