One dictionary definition of a trough is a long narrow hollow or depression between waves. The good ship Smurfit, chugging along in the trough with its cargo of containerboard, paper and boxes, is anxiously awaiting the big wave coming from behind which will lift it clear of the icebergs of depressed earnings and profits now bedevilling the industry. In reporting a 25 per cent contraction in pre-tax profits to £150 million last year, the group continues to man the pumps in hopes that the trough of the present downturn is at its nadir. Certainly the past two years have been a titanic struggle. Overproduction, weak paper and packaging prices again proved the bugbear in what the group described as another "difficult" year. Last year's profit of £150 million compares with profits of £85 million for the 1994 financial year and with over £400 million in 1995, such fluctuations indicating the volatile tidal flows which force the industry off course.

Although demand for paper, containerboard and boxes increased, oversupply kept prices low which, in turn, depressed profits. While some price rises came in the second half of the year, these were too little and too late to sustain any general recovery.

All-in-all no pleasure cruise but at least the Smurfit vessel, while riding low in the water, managed to keep its prow pointing in the right direction. Not waving, as Stevie Smith would say, but certainly not drowning. Fare-paying passengers, though slightly bilious, are encouraged not to rush for the lifeboats, anxieties soothed by the warm broth of a total dividends' increase of 10 per cent to 4.62p a share.