Company News in Brief

Year to 30 September

Warner Estates made pounds 7.5m (pounds 7.6m) pre-tax profit. Final 7p makes 10.5p (10p).

Cardiff Property incurred pounds 921,000 pre-tax loss (profit pounds 109,000). Final dividend held at 1.55p.

GM Firth Holdings, the steel roller, stockholder and property and finance group, more than doubled pre-tax losses to pounds 1.5m (pounds 712,000). No dividend.

Thomas French, maker of curtains and home accessories, fell to pounds 110,000 (pounds 285,000) pre-tax profit. Final 2.175p makes 3.625p (same).

Gresham Telecomputing advanced to pounds 767,000 (pounds 355,000) pre-tax profit. Dividend is 0.25p.

Year ended 31 December

Witan Investment Company is paying a 2.9p final, making a total of 5.6p (5.3p).

Derby Trust saw pre-tax profits fall from pounds 3m to pounds 2.7m.

Six months to 30 September

Prism Leisure lifted pre-tax profits to pounds 478,000 (pounds 374,000). Interim dividend is 0.9p.

Property Trust made pounds 426,000 (loss pounds 6.3m) pre-tax profit.

Proteus International deepened pre-tax losses from pounds 1.1m to pounds 1.2m.

Six months to 31 October

Farepak, the mail-order hampers group, made pre-tax losses of pounds 965,000. A first-half loss is usual for seasonal reasons, and brokers are expecting about pounds 5.5m for the full year.

Jurys Hotel reported a small increase in pre-tax profits from Ir pounds 2.07m to Ir pounds 2.16m. Interim dividend is held at Ir2p.

AB Consulting incurred pounds 849,000 pre-tax loss (profit pounds 327,000). Dividend is cut to 0.3p (2.2p).

J Saville Gordon slipped to pounds 1.26m ( pounds 1.35m) pre-tax profit. Dividend is held at 0.5p.

Other

Farringford, the soft drinks maker, managed to reduce pre-tax losses from pounds 281,000 to pounds 151,000 in the six months to 30 June.

Partridge Fine Arts reported halved pre-tax profits of pounds 1.1m ( pounds 2.2m) for the year ended 31 October on lower sales of pounds 8.4m ( pounds 9.6m). Final dividend is held at 1.25p.