Lawsuits against Tring reduced by nearly half: First results since stock market flotation show profits of cut-price CD producer ahead by 56%

TRING, the producer of cut-price compact discs, has seen off nearly half the 12 legal actions that hung over the company at the time of its Stock Exchange float.

Prior to listing in February Tring faced legal questions about the ownership of some of the music in its collection of recordings.

It holds reproduction rights to 8,000 tracks. A spokesman for the firm said: 'Litigation now outstanding concerns a fraction of 1 per cent of Tring's total portfolio.'

The company said that six of the seven actions remaining were taken by Polygram or subsidiaries related to it. The other is being pursued by K-Tel. No new actions had been started since the float.

Tring yesterday published its first profit figures since coming to market, although the period was largely before the float. Pre-tax profits rose by 56 per cent for the year to 31 March and sales by 35 per cent. Earnings per share advanced by 55 per cent to 8.5p.

The company is not paying a dividend because it was a public company for only six weeks of the financial year. However, with payments this year it hopes to give a gross income yield of 4 per cent.

Tring sells pop music CDs for pounds 2.99 and classical recordings for pounds 3.99. Mainstream record companies products are generally sold at between pounds 10 and pounds 15.

Despite the policy to undercut competitors on price, Tring's operating profit margin widened. Thanks to a fall in the price of raw materials the return on sales advanced from 20 to 23 per cent.

Philip Robinson, joint chief executive, said the advance was due to greater penetration of retail outlets. Growth would continue, but it was unlikely to be sustained at the rates achieved last year.

During last year Tring bought the freehold of its headquarters property in Aylesbury, Bucks.

Mr Robinson also heaped criticism on the report, published last week, by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission into the music industry.

The MMC concluded that the music industry constituted a monopoly but did not operate against the public interest. Mr Robinson called it a whitewash, but added: 'We will deal with whatever situation we have to.'

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