Waterford Wedgwood posted a first-half pre tax profit of €8.9 million today, but only thanks to a one-off gain of €103.2 million from the sale of its All-Clad cookware business.
"Trading remains very challenging. October sales were down 10 per cent on the same period last year on a like-for-like basis . . . although indications on trading in November suggest some improvement," the company said in a statement.
The maker of luxury crystal and china, which is still in talks to buy British rival Royal Doulton, had warned last month that its pretax interim result would be significantly below market expectations.
The group confirmed that sales fell 5 per cent once adjusted for currency movements and the impact of the sale of its All-Clad unit to French household appliance maker SEB.
Without those adjustments, however, the fall in first half revenues to €356 million was a much steeper 12.3 per cent.
Waterford Wedgwood is suffering from a slump in demand for luxury tableware that forced Royal Doulton to close its last British factory earlier this year.
The popularity of Waterford's brands in the United States is also taking its toll as the steady fall of the dollar versus the euro eats into the value of sales made in North America.
Waterford's discussions with Royal Doulton over its bid to buy the company were making progress, Waterford said today, while repeating that that there could be no certainty a formal offer would ultimately be made.