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Slowing world economies hit Belleek group
Sunday, August 31, 2008 By Gavin Daly
New accounts show that Belleek Pottery, the 150-year-old Fermanagh firm, recorded a rise in turnover and profits in the year to the end of March, but sales at Galway Crystal slumped 11 per cent, while Aynsley China is trading at a loss amid ‘‘difficult global market conditions’’.

The main backer of the Belleek group is George Moore, a Louth-born businessman who is based in America and has a range of interests in Ireland and the US. The companies are run by local management, including Belleek managing director John Maguire, finance director Martin Sharkey, operations director Arthur Goan and sales and marketing director Hugh Quinn.

Despite tough market conditions, sales at Belleek Pottery rose by 4 per cent to stg£8.3 million (€10.4 million) and it made a pre-tax profit of stg£108,000.The holders of the company’s ordinary shares received a dividend of more than stg£1.2 million, while a preference share dividend of stg£24,000 was also paid.

The Belleek management team has set a sales target of stg£8.5 million for this year and is aiming to keep the company’s gross profit margin at about 56 per cent, which equates to stg£4.76 million. At the end of March last, Belleek had retained profits of stg£2.9 million and shareholders’ funds of stg£5.2 million. Its stocks were valued at stg£3.6 million.

The pottery company is the biggest part of the group, with 263 staff last year, up from 243 the previous year. Its employment costs rose by almost stg£400,000 to stg£4.1 million. The directors shared almost stg£430,000 in remuneration and pension contributions.

Galway Crystal fared less well, with sales falling to €6.7 million, down from€7.5million the previous year. The company said the fall was mainly due to ‘‘the reduction in American sales following the weakness in the dollar’’.

Despite that, the company made a pre-tax profit of almost €54,000 in the year to the end of March, compared with a loss of almost €150,000 in the previous 12 months. However, it expects turnover to fall further this year and has set a target of €6 million for sales in the 12 months to March 2009.

At the end of last March, Galway Crystal had retained profits of €15.6 million and shareholders’ funds of €20.1 million. It had stocks, including ‘‘finished goods and goods for resale’’, worth €3.5 million.

Aynsley China, based in Stoke-on-Trent in England, has also suffered from falling sales; it made a trading loss of almost stg£295,000 last year.

At the end of March, the firm had retained losses of stg£3 million and a stg£1.9 million deficit on its shareholders’ funds.

However, ‘‘strategic plans’’ are being implemented in a bid to turn the business around, according to that company’s accounts. ‘‘This includes relocation to more efficient premises, continued outsourcing and the development of new products,” they state.

Aynsley had 70 staff last year, down from 92 the previous year. The directors of the firm are targeting sales of stg£4 million (€5 million) this year, and said they were ‘‘confident that the company can return to operating profitability in the medium term’’.

The Belleek group also owns Donegal Parian China, which it bought in 2000.

The Donegal company had sales of about €2.5 million at the time of the deal, but manufacturing was transferred from Ballyshannon in Donegal to Fermanagh in 2005.

The Donegal company then ceased trading on December 31, 2005, according to its accounts. The Belleek group of companies is ultimately controlled by an Isle of Man company called Fossgate, whose full financial details are not publicly available.

Belleek last month launched Belleek Living, a range of coloured china, in a bid to combat a downturn in demand for its more traditional products.

‘‘These are generally challenging times for the industry, and new products are the lifeblood of our company,” Maguire said at the time. ‘‘We are continually investing in new design, because it’s imperative to our future.”

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