Bilton’s Raven Mount posts pretax loss

Anton Bilton’s Raven Mount blamed the cost of setting up new businesses in Russia and UK as it dropped into the red, posting a first-half pretax loss of £3.92m. Raven said it had also been hit by the wind down of its Swan Hill project in Swindon, but said it has a strong platform for future growth. The group’s pretax loss of £3.92m for the six months to 30 June compared with a profit of £557,000 a year earlier, as revenue fell to £32.31m from £42.68m. The group lifted its interim dividend by 33% to 0.8pg. Chairman Bilton said: “We have various further acquisitions in the pipeline which will be exchanged in the second half of the year.” paul.norman@rbi.co.uk