Sale Tilney cuts losses but sees no sign of upturn

SALE TILNEY, the financially troubled food and industrial group, said it was examining ways of securing its long-term future as it reported a reduced interim loss of pounds 2.5m, writes Paul Durman.

The company, which is dependent on the support of its bankers for its survival, said it had been faced with 'continuing extremely difficult trading conditions' and there were 'few signs of any recovery'.

The result for the year is heavily dependent on the group's industrial businesses, most of which began the year with low order books. STT, which makes sophisticated lamp-making machinery, has secured some large orders, but these are subject to financing.

Spraybake, the paint spraying booth maker, has suffered from the problems of the UK car industry and has again been rationalised.

The interim result was an improvement from last year's pounds 3.7m loss. The retained loss was further reduced by a pounds 1.1m extraordinary profit on disposals. There is no dividend.