Norish expects profit advance

HALF year results from cold storage company Norish will be published next month and will be "in line with expectations", the executive chairman of Norish plc, Mr Brian Joyce, said yesterday.

Speaking at an extraordinary general meeting where shareholders voted in favour of the disposal of the Castleblaney cold store, Mr Joyce said results for the second half of the year would "show further improvements"

He added: "1997 is expected to be better than 1996."

The net proceeds from the disposal of the coldroom sale to companies in the Molloy Sherry Group will be approximately £1.55 million and will be used to reduce group borrowings.

Profits from 1996 will be used to further reduce short term debts and would leave the company in a much stronger position, Mr Joyce said.

The four British based coldstores operated by the company, at Wrexham, Bury St Edmunds, Braintree and Brierley Hill, are all trading profitably.

The sale of the Castleblaney coldstore is the last of a series of transactions involving the withdrawal of Norish from the Irish cold storage market, which the company believes has uncertain prospects in the medium term.

However, Norish has negotiated a joint venture arrangement with Molloy and Sherry, and will take an equity stake of 30 per cent in Lochmeen, the company which will operate the Castleblaney coldstore.

The sale of Castleblaney was approved without debate.