Is our “Local” Edition of The Courier really local any more? I noticed that the results of the largest employer in Angus have not been reported on by our local paper in their Angus and The Mearns edition. The story is however reported in the Aberdeen based Press and Journal. The story was run as follows :-
Textile firm hails its
results after difficult year
Pre-tax profits are almost flat at £3m
By Keith Findlay
Published: 22/03/2008
Angus textile firm Don and Low (D&L) has hailed its latest annual results as a major achievement in one of the most difficult years in its 200-plus year history.
The company, which employs around 500 people in Forfar, was hit by rising input prices and unfavourable exchange rates last year.
Pre-tax profits were almost flat at £3.056million, which chief executive Stephen Duffy said yesterday was a remarkable performance under the circumstances.
He added: “Polymer, a major raw material accounting for more than 50% of our costs, reached an all-time historic high.”
Mr Duffy said uncertainty over the current economic climate made predictions for the firm’s financial performance in 2008 impossible, adding: “2007 was one of the most difficult years was have faced in a long time, so to record flat profits was actually a major achievement.
“How we do this year will entirely be determined by factors over which we have no control.”
He said the current financial turmoil was also having an impact on the company’s pension fund deficit, which stood at £3.5million at the end of last year, down from £17.1million in 2006.
D&L, which was formed in 1792 by William Don, manufactures woven and non-woven polypropylene industrial textiles.
About half of the company’s output is exported to countries including Australia, Canada and the US, with the rest of Europe being a key market.
Accounts from Companies House yesterday showed the Greek-owned firm had turnover of £54.34million in 2007, up from £52.93million the year before.
A directors’ report with the accounts said: “Economic and market challenges, particularly the increasing cost of raw materials and the strength of the pound, have continued to have a significant influence on the company’s business.
“Nevertheless, steady progress was made during the year. The continuing progress of the non-wovens business in higher value markets was an encouraging feature.”
D&L’s highest-paid director received a pay and benefits package worth £496,000 last year, compared with £379,000 in 2006.
publish Date 22/03/2008
Have the Scottish press managed to create Petrol Panic ? The scenes outside a local petrol station yesterday evening would suggest they have. The possible strike will not happen until Sunday and yet there were over a dozen cars lined up on Queenswell road filling station yesterday evening, that’s not a scene we usually see in Forfar on a Monday night !
