For the six months ended 30 June 2005, Pittards has declared an operating loss of £0.4m, which compares with a similar loss in the first half of 2004, and a loss of £3.5 million in the six months ended 31 December 2004.

Pittards Yeovil (formerly the Glove Leather Division) returned a profit in the first half of 2005 with sales up by 21% on the second half of last year, albeit 11% down on the first six months of 2004. Sales of leather for sports gloves - particularly for golf - were strong.

Pittards Leeds (formerly the Shoe and Leathergoods Division) achieved similar sales of finished leather in the period as in the second half of 2004 in terms of both volume and value, although lower on both counts than the first half. Sales of leather for sports and leisure footwear were ahead of both the first and second halves of last year. These gains, however, were offset by a drop in sales of leather for luxury leathergoods, which was largely the result of difficulties the company encountered in sourcing sufficient quantities of hides of the right quality.

Stephen Boyd, chairman, said: In common with most manufacturers in this country, we are experiencing higher chemical, fuel, power and waste treatment costs which are eroding the benefits of the cost savings we have achieved over the last 12 months. With these and other pressures on our margins it is unlikely that we will show much improvement in the second half on our performance in the first six months.”