Devro profits hit by costs linked to job losses

Sausage skin maker Devro today revealed a slump in first-half profits at its counted the cost of 130 job losses at its Lanarkshire plants.

The Moodiesburn-based firm said the first round of job cuts will be made next month as it decommissions older machinery, with more redundancies to follow in the first quarter of next year.

Costs associated with the shake-up saw pre-tax profits tumble to £1.6 million for the six months to the end of June, down from £16.2m for the same period a year ago.

Chief executive Peter Page said: “In order to add capacity, align products with market opportunities and reduce unit costs, all our manufacturing operations are in the midst of a significant transformation process which is impacting current year profits but will enhance earnings in the future.

“Our expectations for the full year trading results remain unchanged.”

The interim dividend, to be paid on 3 October, was left unchanged at 2.7p a share.