1 April 1999: Germany“s Gerresheimer-Glas AG of Duesseldorf, part of the Viag group, has reported a clear improvement in profits. Shareholders will benefit from this in the form of an increased divid…
1 April 1999: Germany“s Gerresheimer-Glas AG of Duesseldorf, part of the Viag group, has reported a clear improvement in profits. Shareholders will benefit from this in the form of an increased dividend of DM 1.00 (DM 0.40) per share. Ordinary operating profits increased by 16% to DM 75.4 million (DM 65.2 million). The reason for this was given as being cost reduction measures at all levels. Group net profits nevertheless fell to DM 44.4 million (DM 53.1 million). At AG blevel, net profits more than doubled to DM 40.5 million. Group turnover fell by 3% to DM 1.636 billion (DM 1.689 billion). The decline was attributed to disinvestment and the reduction of capacity in the area of standard container glass. Meanwhile, the company is negotiating with French group Danone and financial investors over the establishment of a European joint venture into which both firms would contribute their food and drink container glass divisions.