Profits slashed at Conran

Poor trading in Conran's New York restaurant has almost halved the group's profits.

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Conran Holdings, which owns restaurants in London, Paris, Stockholm and New York, has reported a drop of profits from £4m to £2.4m in the year ended March 2002.

Sales have also fallen by 4% from £117m to £113m.

It claims that shops and restaurants in its New York operation have taken a big hit since the terrorist attacks on September 11.

It is understood that the group plans to make some changes to its image and menus. In New York it has changed Gustavino's from French cuisine to American style food and is expecting next year's profits to show improvement.

The group's London restaurants, including Quaglino's, Orrery and Mezzo revealed a slight increase in profits from £4m to £4.2m. This was boosted by strong trading at the Great Eastern Hotel, in which Conran has a 50% stake.