Glasgow, Scotland, Apr. 30--Embattled Scottish carpet manufacturer Stoddard International yesterday announced that its underlying annual losses had doubled from £3.1m to £6.2m--as it filed its 2003 results on the last day it could have to comply with stock market rules.
The company said the accounts had still to be signed by the directors and auditor, but emphasised this had also been the case at this stage last year.
Stoddard, which has consolidated production from three factories on to a single site in Kilmarnock which employs 503 people, declined to even hazard a guess on when it might become profitable.
Alan Lawson, chief executive, said: "That is not something we want to say too much about.
Obviously, we are working hard to recover the situat-ion. Clearly as a management group, having gone through two years of difficult trading, we want to return the company as quickly as possible to profit.
"In terms of timing, there are just so many factors at play."
Stoddard's figures for the year to December 31 were woeful, with the company attributing the rise in losses mainly to an £800,000 reduction in operating profit margins and a £2.3m increase in the pension charge.
The group's final salary pension scheme is heavily in the red.
Stoddard executive Andrew Rennison said that the deficit on the scheme at December 31, under Financial Reporting Standard 17, was "just under £15m" and "similar to the figure from last year."
The group closed the pension scheme to new members back in 2002 and, from March 31 this year, has taken one step further by also shutting it to new contributions from existing employees.
In its results statement, Stoddard says: "The scheme is not being wound up, and the company will continue to contribute to it as a closed scheme. Future provision for employees has been left open for further consideration, and may result in the setting-up of a stakeholder scheme."
Stoddard's net debt, a significant part of which comprises a bank overdraft, jumped from £12.6m to £17.4m last year. The company said this would be reduced significantly as about £15m of proceeds from the disposal of properties comes in this year.
Stoddard's turnover fell from £32.3m to £30m. Sales of woven carpets tumbled 36%, although the company enjoyed 50% growth in the patterned tufted sector.
The bottom-line loss fell from £5.1m in 2002 to £3.2m last year, taking in £3.6m of gains on the sale of property which were offset by about £600,000 of exceptional charges.
Stoddard says in its results statement, under the heading "post balance sheet event", that it has recently settled a "major dispute" with a former supplier and a related insurance claim. As a result, credits and insurance proceeds totalling £1m had been received and recognised in 2003.
Lawson refused to say how much Stoddard had been claiming, or to divulge the supplier's identity.
