Waterford Wedgwood reports loss of €149m
This compared with losses of €45m the previous year and was driven by a 12% fall in sales revenue. The company was squeezed by lower demand and a sliding dollar and had flagged the poor sales figures in a recent profit warning.
Chief executive Redmond O'Donoghue said the year had been difficult for Waterford shareholders and staff but added that the group would recover.
He said action had been taken to strip out costs and streamline the business through a programme that will see 1,800 people leave the group and free up some of the working capital tied up in stocks.
"The business is in a much better place than a year ago," he said.
Total sales fell from €832m to €733m, but the decline in like-for-like sales was less severe at 6%, excluding the effect of discontinued operations such as the All-Clad cookware subsidiary in America.
Sales were down across the crystal, ceramics and designs businesses.
The company generated operating losses of €82m compared with a profit of €28m a year ago.
Currency effects wiped €23m off the bottom line as sales in dollars, which accounted for around 40% of the total, were worth less in euro terms.
The bottom line was also hurt by the sale of All-Clad, which had been a consistent contributor to profits.
But the disposal generated almost €200m in cash and helped reduce the company's hefty debt burden.
Waterford also took advantage of a change to Irish tax law that allowed it to pocket the profits on the disposal without taking a capital gains tax hit, which would otherwise have cost around €20m.
Mr O'Donoghue said that the company continued to suffer in the April to June period, when sales were down 8% on the previous year.
But there was good news on the horizon with the recent rebound in the dollar, which will boost revenues, and a stronger order book. Mr O'Donoghue said that sales from September onwards were likely to be ahead of the previous year.
Chief operating officer Peter Cameron was upbeat on the recent acquisition of British chinaware manufacturer Royal Doulton and said cost savings from the takeover could be €40m, twice the level originally envisaged.
Waterford holds an extraordinary general meeting next week to approve a €100m rights issue to fund its restructuring programme, which aims to strip out €90m in annual costs.
