Cost control boosts Readicut's results

CONTROL of overheads has underpinned a 12 per cent profit rise at Readicut, the textiles company.

Readicut is involved with a broad range of textile-related activities, from carpet weaving to machinery manufacture. It has invested in new production equipment, allowing it to reduce the workforce.

Taxable profits rose to pounds 6.7m from pounds 6m for the six months to 30 September. Turnover increased to pounds 113m from pounds 102m.

Capital investment was pounds 7m in the half, compared with a depreciation charge of pounds 4m. In the full year Clive Shaw, managing director, said capital expenditure would be pounds 15m against a pounds 9m depreciation charge.

In the half-year 73 people were made redundant, reducing the total workforce numbers to 3,700.

Mr Shaw said yesterday: 'We are getting no help from the economy. We are pushing forward through the internal measures we have taken.' He added that profits benefited from a drive to secure more export orders, although devaluation of sterling played a part.

The change in the dollar exchange rate over one year added pounds 3m to interim turnover figures and pounds 200,000 to pre-tax profits.

Earnings per share increased to 2.4p from 2.1p. Julia Blake, textiles analyst at the securities house Barclays de Zoete Wedd, is expecting full-year profits of pounds 16.8m.

The interim dividend is held at 0.63p. The company said it wanted to rebuild dividend cover, indicating that the full-year dividend will also remain unchanged at 3.45p. The shares fell 0.5p to 97.5p.