South Wharf shares fall 12pc on ruling

The company, which was left over when Paul Coulson spun off the glass interests of Ardagh in 2003, has 21 days to appeal the High Court decision to the Supreme Court. South Wharf had been seeking to change the use of the facilities it leases at Ringsend from glass manufacturing to port warehousing but had failed to win the consent of its landlord, Dublin Port, which prompted the legal action.Shares in the company, which have risen strongly since the start of the year amid hopes of a positive outcome to the court case, lost 35c, or 11.7 per cent, to E2.65 yesterday."The Board of South Wharf will now consider in detail the implications of the High Court decision and communicate with shareholders in due course," the company said in a statement to the Irish Stock Exchange yesterday.

"South Wharf intends to continue its glass related activities at the Ringsend property in accordance with the user requirements of the current leases," the statement said.

"It should be noted that there is no minimum level of activity specified in such leases," the statement added. South Wharf's business consists of agency sales of product sourced from other manufacturers, including the plants of Ardagh Glass.