Comeback for Albert Fisher
3 May 2000
Comeback for Albert Fisher
FOOD Group Albert Fisher may be on the road to recovery after a decade of debt-induced decline, reports the Financial Times.
Debt has fallen from 165.2 million in February 1999 to 95.2m, while market capitalisation has edged back to 68m.
But interest payments on debt have still reduced pre-tax profits for the six months to 29 February to 100,000.
Profits for the same point in 1999 were 1.2m.
Turnover on continuing operations rose 2.5% to 303.5m in the six months to 29 February, with operating incomes rising 31% to8.5m.
The FT says Albert Fisher is coming to grips with a legacy of over-expansion in the 1980s.
This saw it grow from a small Blackburn-based fruit and vegetable supplier into an international business with a peak market capitalisation of 790m.
- Financial Times, 03/05/2000, page 30