Coral Products flags positive trading, announces new CEO

Plastics specialist Coral Products flagged positive earnings for the six months ended 31 October in an update on Wednesday.

The AIM-traded firm said the earnings aligned with market expectations, as it built a sizable specialist plastic business in the UK.

It also said it would pay a final dividend of 0.6p per share for the financial year ended 30 April on 30 November.

Regarding corporate leadership changes, executive chairman Joseph Grimmond had informed the board of his intention to transition to the role of non-executive chairman starting 1 January.

At the same time, the company said Lance Burn would become its group chief executive officer and director starting 2 January.

Burn would bring 14 years of experience with IG Design Group, where he served as an executive board director since 2012.

During his tenure, he held positions including CEO of the UK and Asia between 2009 and 2019, followed by the role of CEO of IG Design Group International in 2020.

Most recently, he played a crucial role as interim group chief operating officer, overseeing the transformation of the Americas division, resulting in a significant $14.6m year-on-year adjusted operating profit improvement.

“The company continues to progress well, and we intend to publish our interims for the six months to 31 October in early December, demonstrating earnings in line with market expectations,” said executive chairman Joseph Grimmond.

“In addition, I am delighted that Lance is joining Coral Products at this exciting time for the company.

“He is well known to the board and brings with him highly relevant commercial and quoted company experience that will benefit the group and its future as it continues to deliver on our stated growth strategy to become a UK plastics business of scale.”

At 1201 GMT, shares in Coral Products were up 3.58% at 12.43p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.