Shareholders in Oakhill, the print group that demerged from James Crean two years ago, will not receive any final dividend for last year and are unlikely to receive an interim dividend in the current year, the company has warned.
Oakhill's decision to pass the dividend follows dismal results for 2000 and a warning that this year's performance will be well down on last year.
After selling its packaging business to Brodr Sunde for £10.5 million sterling (€16.92 million) at the end of last year, Oakhill is now a printing business with operations in Ireland, the UK and the United States. This print business suffered a 26 per cent fall in operating profits last year to €8.4 million even though sales in the year were 6 per cent higher on €83.5 million.
And the group has warned that there is little improvement in prospect in the current year with chief executive Mr Donnacha Hurley stating that there was "a very weak performance" in the first quarter. Margins continue to be under pressure and Mr Hurley says that the group is not expecting any significant recovery and results for the year will be well down on last year.
Oakhill is experiencing severe problems at its American operations, Kevtech and Stinehour, and the 2000 accounts include a write-down of €5.03 million against these businesses. Mr Hurley says that Oakhill is continuing to operate Kevtech and Stinehour while considering their future.
The packaging division that was sold suffered a 12 per cent fall in operating profits to €2.4 million against a 11 per cent increase in sales to €35.5 million. Overall, pre-tax profits for the year were down 41 per cent to €5.4 million, but the write-off against the American businesses, goodwill amortisation and other exceptional costs resulted in a loss for the year of €4.8 million.
Since its demerger from Crean, Oakhill's shares have fallen steadily from a high of 68 cents to their current level of 25 cents where the company has a market value of €14 million. Oakhill's shareholders include Eircom finance director Mr Peter Lynch, who bought a 8 per cent stake last December at a cost of €1.1 million.
