Inveresk will continue to attack its cost base and refine its product offerings as its restructuring takes effect, according to executive chairman Ken Minton.The task is to rebuild the business to be able to sustain the ups and downs that the market can throw at us, he said.

Minton felt the Alloa-based papermaker was on track to complete the first phase of its restructuring an attack on its cost base in a bid to be more competitive by the end of March.The next phase, said Minton, would be to ensure all the capacity within the company was taken up. Then it would look at additional growth avenues, such as enhancing its existing products.

The companys turnaround on its debt reduction has continued, with net debt falling by 8% to 18.9m. Although its preliminary results for the year ending 1 December 2001 showed a 9% drop in sales to 106.4m, Inveresk made a pre-tax profit before exceptionals of 200,000 compared with a loss of 6.2m in 2000.

The restructuring programme, which involved the closure of Kilbagie mill and 170 job losses (PrintWeek, 21 September 2001), resulted in exceptional costs for the period increasing from 2.3m to 6.5m.

Minton said the groups results, particularly in the second half of 2001, reflected its commitment to securing sustainable profitability and growth in shareholder value.

Story by Andy Scott