So it came to pass. Industrial holding company James Crean had given fair warning that grim annual results were in the offing; preliminary figures this week duly confirm the extent of bloodletting. Losses before tax total £2.26 million, a far cry from the profit of £14.4 million returned in 1996. The worst of the agony may well be over with shafts of light beginning to filter through the gloom. Current first-quarter results are said to be "good" with operating profits showing a 27 per, cent improvement. Should this trend continue Crean reckons it is heading towards an overall recovery which should show up in an improvement in earnings in the second half of its financial year. Returning optimism is evidenced by the desire to resume asset purchases after a painful period of disinvestment.
Crean stresses that profit weakness in the group was caused by "temporary" factors and that initiatives taken should lead to a reversal of fortune. Given the haemorrhage of income, shareholders are treated favourably, at least receiving a positive return on investment. Total dividends have been pitched at 8.5p a share. While 46 per cent less than a year earlier, the payment looks generous when set against the 14.79p loss per share.
