Irish crystal, chinaware and luxury goods group Waterford Wedgwood Plc recently reported a 24% jump in year profits despite tricky market conditions, and was cautiously optimistic on prospects for 2001. Waterford posted pre-tax profits before goodwill of 85.5 million euros ($79.53 million), up from 68.7 million the year before, with total sales passing the one billion euros mark for the first time. Current trading was ahead of 2000 levels. "It's so far, so good this year and, while it would be foolish not to acknowledge there are challenging times up ahead for everyone, we would be hopeful and positive on our growth prospects," Redmond O'Donoghue, recently- appointed chief executive of the Wedgwood division, told Reuters in a telephone interview. O'Donoghue said the company had doubled revenues in the past three years and intended to double again over the next five. "We have a healthy appetite for acquisitions, but these would be opportunistic rather than planned," he said.