to liquidate the company, and claimed that the company was making profits for the first time in two years.

Chief Justice Austin Ward yesterday gave Island Pottery 14 more days to file before the Supreme Court a balance sheet statement to back the company's claim that it was making money. The company should also submit a proposal for paying off a $131,000 debt to its landlord West End Development Corp. (WEDCO), he said. Island Pottery is located at Dockyard.

"I would also expect the affidavit to explain how this company got into this sorry state,'' he told Island Pottery lawyer Michael Scott.

Chief Justice Ward also ordered Island Pottery to pay rent for May in a "timely manner'' until another court date is set to resume the liquidation hearing after June 13. Yesterday's court appearance was the second one in WEDCO's liquidation petition. Island Pottery was given a month's reprieve on April 7 when Acting Puisne Judge Michael Mello allowed the company more time to make its case. He also ordered Island Pottery to pay WEDCO $8,000.

Lawyer Dennis Dwyer told the court yesterday that the sum owed to WEDCO represents about five years of back rent. He claimed that an audited account of the company showed it was insolvent as it had accumulated losses of about $750,000 between 1990 and August 1996.

He opposed the adjournment of the case. Chief Justice Ward, in allowing the adjournment, stated that WEDCO "bears some responsiblity'' in allowing the debt to build up.

In an interview with The Royal Gazette , Island Pottery manager Irving Minors said the company made a profit for the first four months of 1997.

"It is an indication that we would be making fairly substantial profits this summer,'' he said.

Mr. Minors said the company had also negotiated with its other creditors over repayments of debts and that WEDCO was the lone holdout in helping the company continue.

"We don't understand their position,'' he said. "If we go into liquidation nobody will get paid. Our restructuring in 1996 is beginning to show results in 1997.'' He said the company losses in the first few years of operations when it began at Dockyard in 1988. The company was profitable for four years then suffered losses in the last two years, he said.