Fitch dives pounds 4m into red after 'terrible time': Design group 'on road to recovery' after financial restructuring

A SUBSTANTIAL fall-off in business when its shares were suspended last July helped to plunge Fitch, the design group, into losses of pounds 4m before tax in 1992, writes John Murray.

But Rodney Fitch, chairman, said the company was on the road to recovery after the financial restructuring and capital injection that followed the share suspension.

'We had a terrible time in 1992, but we were in good company in that regard,' he said. 'Following the financial restructuring in the autumn, confidence among our clients is returning, the management can concentrate again on winning business and I am very optimistic about the future.'

The shares were suspended for 17 weeks and second-half sales plummeted to 50-60 per cent of those in the first half. Turnover for the year dropped 12 per cent to pounds 15.9m. Operating losses were pounds 650,000, but that was inflated by pounds 2.4m of exceptional items, including costs of releasing the company from leases.

There is no dividend; the shares, which stood at 41p when they were suspended last July, rose 1/2 p to 17p.

(Photograph omitted)