Losses at Island Press, owners of the Bermuda Sun newspaper, shrank in the first six months of this year, it was announced yesterday.

The company, which is registered on the Bermuda Stock Exchange, showed a net loss of $248,965, nearly a 30 percent improvement on last year's figure of $348,334 for the same period.

The net loss per share is 55 cents, a 27 percent improvement on the first six months of last year.

Sales stood at $3,940,250 up to the end of March 31, 1999, compared to $3,740,473 last year, according to figures released by the company yesterday, which were sent out to company shareholders.

The results were welcomed by the president and chief executive officer Randy French.

He said: "The results for the first six months of our financial year show an encouraging trend reflecting the results of strategic and other initiatives introduced by the group in the recent past.

"Sales, gross profit and the gross profit margin have all improved and the reported net loss for the period has declined. "While this is positive, we continue to examine our business strategies and structure with a view to engineering a revitalised group better equipped to deal with local and overseas pressures.'' In a letter to the shareholders, Mr. French said that the company's commercial printing operation faced continued pressure from overseas printers which were favoured by lower manufacturing costs. He said that these pressures were being faced by all printers on the Island.

He said that as this was unlikely to change, the company had to concentrate on focusing on quality service and customer needs. Mr. French pointed out there had been problems with the company's advertising management system which was why the financial results were so late in being published.

BUSINESS BUC