LONDON (Alliance News) - Shares in Safestyle UK PLC collapsed a fifth Monday after it cancelled its final dividend upon reporting it expected revenue and profit to be "significantly" below expectations after a competitor ramped-up pressure on its order intake.
The windows and doors maker and retailer also said its long-standing chairman has departed.
Shares in Safestyle were 22% lower at 62.67 pence on Monday.
In late March, the company had said the start of the year had been "difficult" after a continuing deterioration in its market as well as the arrival of an "aggressive" new market entrant. As a consequence, its 2018 order intake had been "weak" and its market share was "under pressure."
On Monday, Safestyle said the activities of the unnamed competitor had "intensified". As a result, it is taking longer than anticipated to rebuild its order intake to the rate it previously had anticipated. It has also experienced cost increases as management takes the "necessary" steps to address the challenges it is facing.
For 2018, therefore, the company now expects underlying pretax profit and revenue to be "significantly below current market expectations". Profit was also expected to be "heavily" weighted towards the second half of the year.
In order to retain cash within the business, Safestyle has cancelled its 7.5 pence per share final dividend.
Chairman Steve Halbert has resigned with immediate effect. He has been replaced by current Non-Executive Director Peter Richardson. Richardson was a previous chief operating officer at Dyson Ltd.
"On behalf of the board," Richardson said, "I would like to acknowledge the significant contribution Steve has made to the group. He was the group's chairman at the time of its successful IPO in 2013 and has provided wise counsel, guidance and support to the board over the years. We wish him the very best for the future."
"I am now looking forward to working with the board and the executive team during what is a challenging period for the group as it undertakes a number of actions to emerge as a stronger, fitter, more agile business", Richardson added.
