Company News in Brief

Birkdale, the advertising and marketing group, deepened taxable losses from pounds 3.6m to pounds 4.5m for the year to 31 March. The losses include exceptional costs of pounds 1.76m, pounds 715,000 for redundancies and pounds 1m for provisions on property lets. Loss per share was 7.7p (12.4p).

Nightfreight more than doubled pre-tax profits from pounds 539,000 to pounds 1.35m for the six months to 31 May. Turnover grew to pounds 21.75m ( pounds 9.3m). Earnings per share 2.62p (1.54p). Interim dividend is 1.13p.

Half year to 30 June

Burlington Group, the investment holding company, edged pre- tax profits higher from pounds 64,000 to pounds 72,000. The results produced earnings per share of 0.43p, up from 0.39p last time. No dividend was declared.

Haden Maclellan Holdings, the manufacturing engineer and provider of industrial services, announced a 22 per cent rise in profits before tax from pounds 1.8m to pounds 2.2m, helped by a healthy 12.5 per cent growth in turnover from pounds 152.7m to pounds 171.8m. Earnings per share improved to 1.7p (1.3p). It maintained the dividend at 1p.

Portmeirion Potteries rose 18 per cent to pounds 1.9m ( pounds 1.6m). Improved turnover of pounds 12.7m ( pounds 11.4m) was assisted by increased sales to Canada and Australia and also the fall in the dollar-sterling exchange rate. Earnings per share rose to 11.85p (9.88p). The interim dividend was increased to 2.5p (2.25p).