Gross margin took a hit in the quarter too, coming in at 59.1%, fifty basis points below the same measure a year ago.

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Theatre manager Mr Batty said any money was likely to be awarded on a "fifty-fifty" match-funding basis.

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They have been among the most eager Euro-enthusiasts, with most political observers reckoning them happy to go along with giving Brussels more say in Italy's affairs on the basis that it was likely to improve on anything offered by their own notoriously unstable governments in the past fifty years.

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