Heading in the other direction were shares in German printing equipment group Linotype-Hell AG, Eschborn, which said on Monday it made a loss of $34.4m in the first half of 1993 against a $9.7m profit a year ago, largely due to losses at its US subsidiary arising from falling prices and the failure of some customers leading to write-offs. The company is responding by cutting its workforce by 15%, with 500 jobs to go in Germany and 200 abroad, mainly in the US. It employed 4,154 at June 30. Linotype hopes to improve its operating result in the second half, but overall earnings will be hurt by special costs connected with the restructuring. With sales off 3% at $282.1m, incoming orders dropped 7% to $307.3m. Fixed asset investment rose marginally to $12.9m the firm said.
